By Richard Martin, President, Alcera Consulting Inc.
Israelis have the right to defend themselves. I refer to Israelis collectively and individually because the right to self-defence is enshrined in the UN Charter. It is also accepted as a basic human right in criminal law, at least in the West.
Under the international law of armed conflict and in the exercise of the inherent right of self-defence, military forces can engage civilian targets and infrastructure if they are being used for military ends, including temporary occupation by hostile forces and materiel. They are legitimate military targets, so long as the principle of proportionality is respected. Moreover, every effort must be made to warn civilians and give them an opportunity to vacate the area to be attacked. Most military forces in the world don’t do that. The IDF has been extremely diligent about doing so since the beginning of the current Gaza operation.
The current IDF operations against Hamas operatives, materiel, and command and control structures in Gaza and South Lebanon are the most economical of civilian lives ever witnessed. From publicly available information, it appears that civilian to military (i.e., Hamas, Palestinian Jihad, and Hezbollah) deaths are under one to one. Even US and Nato forces in Afghanistan and Iraq were well above that and closer to the historical ratio of between 3 and 5 to one.
The IDF tactical approach appears to follow closely the Western approach to battle, which is to use precision fires to attack specific military targets and personnel instead of combined arms assaults by infantry, armour, and engineers. The IDF uses all those capabilities, but in a standoff mode if at all possible, combined with air strikes, drones, and other highly precise lethal means. The principle is simple, why use soldiers when metal will do, aided by high-tech surveillance, target acquisition, and precision guidance.
Israelis are, rightly, casualty averse about their own side. However, so were the Western allies in the Second World War. Metal instead of flesh. It was destructive and expensive, but it was better than US and Commonwealth losses.
Just look at the casualty figures coming out of Ukraine. The Russians have racked up something like half a million casualties, amongst which at least 150,000 killed! The leftist useful idiots seem unconcerned about those deaths, not to mention to widespread death, destruction, and disruption they are causing to the Ukrainians.
And who is crying for the way people are being slaughtered in the Sudan, West Africa, and Myanmar?
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