An Unprecedented Crime?

In the pursuit of avoiding a repeat of the October 7^th Hamas atrocities, Israel is shooting and bombing among Palestinians, at close quarters and in an enclosed space. I believe the latter situation is completely new. In the past, for all of history, civilians had the option to get out of the line of fire. Not today, in Gaza. I don’t believe Israel does it on purpose but it is in fact severely restricting the Gazans’ ability to simply get away. This look a lot like collective punishment which is both immoral and, I think, illegal.

After posing for seventy years as the guarantor that Jews everywhere will never be again ill-treated, Israel failed miserably on October 7^th. I think I understand the Israelis’ fury, and even their fear but, corralling Gaza civilians in the zone of severe fighting looks to me like an unprecedented crime. I fear that it will soon make Israel into a pariah state among the civilized nations.

PS There is a solution to this conundrum that I described in a preceding posting.