Commentary
One of the favourite words used by critics of Israel in its current wars against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon is “proportionality.’’ What is meant by this word is that there is no comparison between the civilian casualties in Gaza and Lebanon and those suffered by Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 (and after), and thus that Israel is guilty of breaking some sort of international norm in its defensive war against those two terrorist groups. The implication is that so many Palestinian civilians have been killed compared to Israelis that the numbers show proof positive that Israel is committing war crimes at best, genocide at worst.
