Even as Israel has prosecuted its just war, it has been called upon – even by its friends – to act in accordance with international law and in a way that minimizes harm to "innocent" civilians.
Many eyebrows have been raised upon hearing the words "innocent civilians". We saw, on the day of the massacre, how a jubilant mob in Gaza beat and humiliated hostages and violated corpses. We also saw Gazan civilians coming to Israeli settlements to loot and perhaps even do many worse things.
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Some of the released hostages reported being held in civilian homes in Gaza, sometimes in inhumane conditions. Hamas activists are not aliens from outer space who took Gazan residents hostage. In the last elections held in the Palestinian Authority, Hamas won significant support. Indeed, Hamas brutally suppresses any opposition, but it still seems to have many supporters in the Strip.
What is the status of civilians who are not "innocent"? The fight against terror takes place under different legal frameworks. Within law enforcement, it is possible to prosecute not only the perpetrator of an act of terror, but also the accessory member of a terrorist organization and anybody who incited to terror. A terror suspect stands trial based on evidence of his personal responsibility. The population does not have collective responsibility for the crimes of individuals.
But Hamas has grown beyond a terrorist organization; it has become an organized armed force that controls territory and is capable of conducting sustained fighting against Israel, not just sporadic acts of terror. Therefore, the laws of war apply to the fight against Hamas. These laws are not about seeking justice and determining guilt; they are designed to regulate the extensive use of military force used in such a campaign. They allow attacking fighters and prohibit attacking civilians. In attacking enemy fighters there is no obligation to check how dangerous they pose as individuals as long as they take part in combat.
Similarly, civilians not participating in fighting are protected from attack even if they are not "innocent". It is forbidden to deliberately attack them and an effort must be made to minimize harm to them during an attack on military targets.
In August 2022, the belonging to the daughter of Aleksandr Dugin – a nationalist strategist close to Vladimir Putin who is alleged to have contributed to the decision to invade Ukraine – exploded in Moscow. Dugin was the apparent target of the attack and he was had encouraged Russian aggression, but he was not involved in the fighting itself. Therefore he is a civilian and attacking him is prohibited.
Morally, one could question why it is permissible to kill a Russian conscript who opposes the war and forbidden to kill a dangerous war monger, but the laws of warfare take a practical approach; they take into account the inability to conduct such a detailed moral discussion as the fighting rages.
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