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Israel's Retaliation Against Hizbullah Is Completely Lawful

(Washington Post) Peter Berkowitz - On Thursday, Hizbullah chief Hasan Nasrallah called the attacks which detonated his militia members' pagers and walkie-talkies "a war crime." On Oct. 8, 2023, Hizbullah launched a campaign of aerial bombardment of northern Israel that has continued for more than 10 months. These are acts of war. Most strike civilian areas and have driven more than 60,000 Israelis from their homes. The laws of war bar targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure. In contrast, Israel's targeting of Hizbullah communication devices conformed to the three major principles of the international laws of war. First, Israel's operation was consistent with the principle of necessity, which limits military action to methods that are essential to the achievement of legitimate war aims. Igniting Hizbullah's communication devices was a direct and efficient way of accomplishing the legitimate war aims of destroying the militia's equipment and removing its fighters from combat. Second, the operation was consistent with the principle of distinction, which requires combatants to target combatants and military objects and not civilians and civilian objects. Hizbullah purchased the pagers and walkie-talkies for their commanders and fighters to facilitate their war to destroy Israel. Third, the operation was consistent with the principle of proportionality, which requires that attacks against legitimate targets not cause incidental loss of civilian life and injury to noncombatants that is "excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated." Targeting Hizbullah fighters by igniting their communications devices minimized collateral damage to a remarkable degree. Israel should be congratulated for its ingenious efforts to defend itself consistent with the international laws of war from a fanatical adversary that utterly repudiates the international laws of war. The writer is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and was director of the Policy Planning Staff at the State Department (2019-2021).
2024-09-22 00:00:00
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