Daniel Levy: 'No just war'

Israeli scholar and former negotiator Daniel Levy tells DW that Israel has gone beyond legitimate self-defense in its war against Hamas. The Palestinian issue cannot be solved militarily, he says. sraeli scholar and former negotiator Daniel Levy tells DW that Israel has gone beyond legitimate self-defense in its war against Hamas. The Palestinian issue cannot be solved militarily, he says.

DW: Do you think that this is a just war?

Daniel Levy: I think that Israel's right to defend itself when its adversaries are violating international law by indiscriminately firing on civilians allows for a just Israeli response. However, the Israeli response, I think it is clear to see, has been disproportionate and had not kept within realms of what could be called a just war.

When you see that hospitals, schools and shelters have been targeted and certainly been hit, when you see the civilian casualty toll on the Palestinian side, when you see that there is a ratio of civilian casualties that is approximately 300 to 1, I think this suggests that Israel has gone well beyond what can be called legitimate self-defense.

That doesn't mean that anyone should apologize that not more Israelis are getting killed, but one should also not apologize for calling this what it is. Which is a disproportionate response, a terribly, deadly and counterproductively response by Israel.

From the very beginning and for some period of time leading up to this and once more being in this crisis the Israeli position has been that Hamas a priori is to blame for everything. That they are using civilians as shields. What Israel has done, and this is in part why we are seeing such a big civilian death toll, is that it has preemptively absolved itself of any moral or legal responsibility.

If you say whatever happens, it is those guys' fault, then you basically say whatever I am doing by definition cannot be wrong and I am not culpable. And I think that is a terrible mindset to approach such an operation.

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