Israeli officials insist that their attacks on Gaza were judiciously planned so as to minimize harm to civilians. What role do civilian casualties play in assessing the justice of war?
This Public Ethics Radio broadcast discusses the role that civilian casualties play in assessing the justice of war.
For a war to be just, it must satisfy what is known as the proportionality principle. In a disproportionate war, the harms caused by going to war are so evil that they outweigh the benefits of an otherwise worthy goal. Considerations of proportionality are also relevant to the assessment of particular tactics undertaken in an ongoing war.