The obvious response is that Gaza is a very densely populated place, of course there's civilians near any given location, that's not a conspiracy by Hamas. But are there any other talking points I should hit?
(I'm not really a lib in rehab, but this seems like the comm for getting talking points straight)
If Hamas is using civilians as human shields then why does Israel keep bombing them? The point of hiding behind civilians is that you're playing a dirty trick on an enemy who doesn't want to hurt innocent people. Israel has shown no such restraint, preferring to make the situation as bad as possible for civilians through bombings, displacement, cutting off services, and preventing humanitarian aid from reaching those who need it. Israel doesn't care about Palestinian civilians in any meaningful way, and Hamas is obviously aware of that, so why pretend that civilians provide any cover at all?
Westerners don’t believe that Israel is callous towards Palestinians. In fact you will rarely hear about them during this conflict because if you say something about Palestine, you’re automatically pro-Hamas
For sure, but at that point you can just end the conversation. You can't reason a person out of a position they didn't reason themselves into. You have to either say nothing, or be content with being correct and moving on.