September 2, 2024
Laws of War
In Gaza, it's clear that the laws of war have been violated, but if one side does not respect them, the other side won't either. This isn't a matter of malice but of military necessity: Hamas cannot adhere to them because it is unable to fight in open terrain, and Israel for the opposite reason. This has always been the case in all asymmetric wars, and the victims are mostly civilians.
In fact, the laws of war only hold under mutual respect: if you don't kill my civilians, I won't kill yours. On the other hand, these laws have not been respected for about a century, except in some cases, such as the Arab-Israeli wars of '56, '67, and '73.