Proportionality and Necessity in Israel’s Invasion of Gaza, 2023–2024

Journal article

This article seeks to show that Israel’s war in Gaza in 2023 and 2024 has been an unjust war because it has violated both the requirement of proportionality and the requirement of necessity. The article explains the nature of proportionality, arguing that the main form of proportionality in war is simply the limit to the amount of harm inflicted on innocent people that can be justified either as the lesser evil or, more plausibly, on the basis of the special relations between combatants and their fellow citizens. The argument of the article is that, even on the basis of assumptions about moral justification and the numbers of innocent people who have been killed or saved by the war that are highly favorable to Israel, the war has nevertheless been highly disproportionate and morally unnecessary.

Authors: McMahan, J

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Journal: Analyse & Kritik
• Volume: 46
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 387-407
• Publication date: 2024-11-22
• DOI: 10.1515/auk-2024-2024
• EISSN: 2365-9858
• ISSN: 0171-5860
• Language: English
• Keywords: special relations justification; lesser-evil justification; requirement of proportionality; civilian liability; Gaza war 2023–2024; requirement of necessity