In Reality, IDF Victorious

1. "Weighing Crimes and Ethics in the Fog of Urban Warfare"; By Steven Erlanger; A1
2. "Israeli Cabinet Appears Ready to Declare a Gaza Cease-Fire"; By Ethan Bronner and Mark Landler; A1

Steven Erlanger’s article aspires to be critical of the Israeli Defense Force’s (IDF) conduct during the three week Gaza war. The only clear conclusion he can honestly reach, however, is that Hamas most definitely committed war crimes.

“Shooting rockets out of Gaza aimed at Israeli cities and civilians is an obvious violation of the principle of discrimination and fits the classic definition of terrorism. Hamas fighters are also putting civilians at undue risk by storing weapons among them, including in mosques, schools and allegedly hospitals, too, making them potential military targets. While urban and guerrilla warfare is not illegal, by fighting in the midst of civilians, often in civilian clothing, Hamas may also bring risk to noncombatants.”

Israeli officials rightfully protest that, despite the clear-cut nature of Hamas’ violations, the violations “tend to be treated as a given and criticized as an afterthought.”

In assessing the IDF’s conduct, Major Dallal frames the matter with a crucial question, “How does an army fight a terrorist group?”

Conduct aside, Erlanger sets out to determine who won the war. In reaching a judgment, he values perception over reality. “The popular perception abroad of how Israel fights, and hence of Israelis, may prove to be more lasting than any strategic gains or losses,” he writes.

The reality, however, is fastidiously laid out by Ethan Bronner and Mark Landler in a separate article, and it evidences Israel’s victory.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of Israel “signed an understanding on a range of steps the United States would take to stem the flow of new arms to Hamas from the Egyptian Sinai, mostly via tunnels.” The United States, NATO, and the Palestinian Authority will “work to interdict weapons” along the “border crossing into Egypt.”

Both the Erlanger and Bronner articles cite the number of dead in Gaza.

Erlanger provides contradictory accounts of civilian deaths by the Hamas-run Ministry of Health and Israel. Hamas’ estimates are at least 15% higher than Israel’s. Without saying so, Bronner uses the Hamas figures, stating that many of the 1,100 people dead are civilians.

Despite using Hamas’ numbers, Bronner acknowledges, “Death tolls in warfare may carry a moral weight, but not a legal one.”