Proxy Militias Maximize Civilian Deaths in War

This month, U.S. Central Command will hold a daylong conference in Tampa on ways to limit civilian deaths in war. (Early in his tenure, Defense Secretary Hegseth decided to shut down a Pentagon initiative created to limit civilian harm.) Success in limiting civilian deaths in war requires the cooperation of all combatants. A prerequisite for success is the maximum feasible separation, by all combatants, of military forces and military infrastructure from the civilian population and civilian infrastructure.

Sadly, certain nonstate combatants, such as Iran’s proxy militias Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, do not try to minimize civilian deaths in war. On the contrary, they strive to maximize civilian deaths. Both militias deliberately target Israeli civilians. On Oct. 7. 2023, Hamas slaughtered about 1,200 Israeli civilians and abducted about 250 others. Meanwhile, Hezbollah continually fires missiles into the homes of residents of northern Israel. By dressing as civilians, and by embedding their military assets in civilian communities, they sacrifice the lives of their civilian neighbors to Israeli airstrikes. Prior to striking an embedded military target, Israel warns people to leave the target area. Despite Israel’s best efforts to minimize civilian casualties, the number of Palestinians killed far exceeds the number of Israelis killed in the war in Gaza. This disparity has led many people and nations to unjustly accuse Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.

Why doesn’t Israel request an invitation to attend the upcoming conference to be held by the U.S. Central Command in October? Israel can ask to have the conference agenda expanded to examine ways to limit civilian deaths in wars against proxy militias.