“Self-Defense” does not look like this.
“But Israel is just defending themselves!” A phrase and justification we have heard repeated over and over on mainstream media outlets, social media posts, and conversations with people about the conflict. Israel’s right to self-defense is perhaps the most functional cog in their propaganda machine, and as a result is often used as the smokescreen from behind which Israel commits atrocity after atrocity in Gaza and the West Bank. While being heavily exploited over the course of this most recent escalation that we have all witnessed firsthand on our television and phone screens, it is not at all a new tactic of the Israeli Defense Force to hide their crimes behind the claim of self-defense. So how does this claim hold up under even the lightest levels of scrutiny? Well, we wouldn’t know considering most mainstream media outlets, and their viewers, blindly accept the claims of the IDF without question. So, let’s take a look at Israel’s right to self-defense, how it is used, and how its reflected in Israel’s actions.
On October 7th fighters from the Palestinian Islamic Resistance group, Hamas, broke through the normally heavily guarded border between The Gaza Strip and Israel. Once the breaches were made, Hamas fighters poured through attack Israeli military installations and armed settlements. Separate from those Hamas fighters, groups of looters and rioters that took advantage of the breach to wreak havoc. Throughout the attack, over a thousand Israelis were killed, a third of whom were military and security personnel. Its also worth noting that recent reporting and admissions from the Israeli military and security forces confirmed that an unknown number of the civilians killed were killed as a result of friendly fire from Israeli helicopters and tanks and they tried to combat Hamas (Haaretz).
That tragic day gave new life and capacity to Israel’s claims to self-defense as it launched an unprecedented assault on Gaza immediately following the attack and continuing to this day. So far, the claim seems legitimate right? Israel was attacked from Gaza, then in retaliation attacked Gaza. Well, it’s not as clear cut as Israel would like the world to believe.
We have to remember that history did not start on October 7th and the attacks did not occur in a vacuum. The Gaza Strip and West Bank have been under military occupation for decades. Increased Israeli Settlement construction in The West Bank (deemed illegal by the UN on various occasions), the harsh Israeli blockade of Gaza in place for the last 16 years, and various other abuses and humiliations systematically instituted over Palestinians immediately rebuffs the Israeli claims that the attack was an “unprovoked” one. We must also take into account that under international law an occupying power is by default assuming an aggressive posture, and under the same international law the occupied people are granted the right, to both peaceful and armed resistance of the occupying force (International Committee of the Red Cross).Given that, a basic application of logic would dictate that an occupying force, which is in an aggressive posture, cannot claim self-defense against a people it is occupying who have the legal right to resist said occupation.
Now for the sake of argument, let’s say, as many supporters of the Israeli government so often do, that this law does not apply (though it does) to the current Israeli campaign in Gaza. Let’s say they legally initiated this assault on Gaza under the conditions of self-defense. If that is the case, Israel must still give a proportional response to the actions against it. Looking at the death tolls alone, no one can sensibly claim that the response has been proportional. As of the publication date of this article (12/26/2023), the October 7th attack resulted in the death of 1,139 Israelis and just over 21,000 Palestinians, a third of whom were women and children according to the UN. That’s a 20 to 1 ratio of Palestinians killed to Israelis killed (Associated Press)(Al Jazeera English).
Numbers aside, lets look at the conduct of the IDF in Gaza. The targeting of hospitals has become common place for the IDF, starting with Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. The IDF claimed it was a valid target to ensure their defense by claiming over and over that Hamas had a command-and-control center underneath it, a claimed repeatedly denied by healthcare providers, NGO volunteers on the ground and workers from UN aid agencies. After bombarding, besieging, and ultimately raiding the hospital, the IDF was unable to provide any adequate proof to back up their claims. The Washington Post did an analysis on the IDF claims about 5 hospitals, Al Shifa included, and made three conclusions from their analysis and investigation:
“The rooms connected to the tunnel network discovered by IDF troops showed no immediate evidence of military use by Hamas.
None of the five hospital buildings identified by Hagari [IDF spokesperson] appeared to be connected to the tunnel network.
There is no evidence that the tunnels could be accessed from inside hospital wards.”
So IDF again used self-defense as a pretext to raid and shut down Gaza’s biggest hospital, an act that would normally be condemned by the international community, but because its Israeli “defending itself,” the western world remains silent.
Then just last week, Israeli forces shot and killed three men who were coming out of a building. The men were stripped down to their underclothes and waving a white flag, showing the IDF they were no threat and wanted help, and yet they were shot and killed. Those three men it turned out were three escaped Israeli hostages, the very people the IDF claims it has gone in to protect (Associated Press). Now, the fog of war and ‘heat of the moment’ is understandable. However, this was not an active firefight, or a riotous mob approaching the soldiers. It was three shirtless men waving a white flag, and the instinct of the IDF was to open fire. This clearly flies in the face of the Israeli claims that they are taking “extraordinary and unprecedented” measures to protect civilians in Gaza.
Escaped Israeli hostages shot by IDF soldiers. Names: Yotam Haim, 28, Samer Talalka, 22, and Alon Shamriz, 26. (NBC)
A few days later, in another example of the IDF’s restraint, an Israeli sniper shot and killed a Christian mother and daughter who were taking refuge in one of the few remaining churches in Gaza that have not been destroyed in the bombardment. After hearing from the clergy who were present in the church, the archbishop of Westminster in London said,
“It’s certainly a cold-blooded killing. What absolutely puzzles me is that this does nothing to further Israel’s right to defend itself.”
The Pope himself also addressed the incident stating simply that,
“It is terrorism.”
There are countless other examples of the IDF’s clear disregard of civilian safety in Gaza such as the bombing of multiple UN school and medical facilities (Boston Review)(The New York Times) and the usage of starvation as a weapon of war. (Human Rights Watch). While the Israeli government likes to paint the picture that accidents and tragedies are inevitable in war and necessary for their defense, the sheer number of cases and evidence on the ground paint a much clearer picture of the indiscriminate and overly aggressive policy towards Palestinians, not just since October 7th but for decades. In short, it seems targeting of civilians is the rule for the IDF and not the exception as they try so hard to make everyone believe.
