by Is Israel committing genocide in Gaza? ZEITmagazin: Professor Walzer, is Israel waging a just war against Hamas? Michael Walzer: Yes. Of central importance, however, is the distinction between ius ad bellum, the just reason for going to war, and ius in bello, the just conduct in a war. The massacre of October 7 is a just cause for going to war; Israel obviously has the right to defend itself. However, there is much to criticize about the way Israel is waging this war … ZEITmagazin: The heavy bombing of the Gaza Strip is being compared to the bombing attacks on Dresden, Aleppo and Grozny. Is that fair? Walzer: In Dresden, the Allies’ goal was to create a firestorm in which as many people as possible would die. There were hardly any relevant military
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Is Israel committing genocide in Gaza?
ZEITmagazin: Professor Walzer, is Israel waging a just war against Hamas?
Michael Walzer: Yes. Of central importance, however, is the distinction between ius ad bellum, the just reason for going to war, and ius in bello, the just conduct in a war. The massacre of October 7 is a just cause for going to war; Israel obviously has the right to defend itself. However, there is much to criticize about the way Israel is waging this war …
ZEITmagazin: The heavy bombing of the Gaza Strip is being compared to the bombing attacks on Dresden, Aleppo and Grozny. Is that fair?
Walzer: In Dresden, the Allies’ goal was to create a firestorm in which as many people as possible would die. There were hardly any relevant military targets there anymore. In Hamburg and Cologne, the British bombed residential areas to make ordinary people homeless. The Israelis may not always have been careful enough in the weeks after October 7th and have apparently relaxed the criteria for accepting collateral damage relative to previous conflicts, which aimed to minimize civilian casualties. But their goal today is not to kill civilians. Otherwise, the number of victims would be much higher …
ZEITmagazin: South Africa has accused Israel at the International Court of Justice of committing genocide against the Palestinians. Is such an accusation credible?
Walzer: No. There is no genocidal intent on the Israeli side. Some members of the Israeli government want to drive the Palestinians out of Gaza and relocate them. But fortunately, they are not the decisive force in government. As a first step, the court recognized the legality of this war, which was important. The judges rightly criticized statements by several Israeli politicians that are also punishable under Israeli law. And they have ordered a significant increase in humanitarian aid. All of this is understandable. It’s not easy for me to say such a thing, but if there were almost 10,000 Hamas fighters among the 30,000 Palestinians killed, it’s not a bad ratio for such a war on urban terrain. In Fallujah, the ratio of civilian deaths to Iraqi militia fighters was not two to one, as in Gaza, but seven to one. What Israel is doing is not genocide.