The Myth: Israel’s military responses are disproportionate and unnecessarily destructive compared to the threats it faces.

The Facts: International humanitarian law defines proportionality not as matching casualty numbers but as balancing military necessity against civilian harm. Israel faces adversaries who deliberately embed military infrastructure within civilian areas. Hamas has built over 500km of tunnels under civilian structures and stores weapons in schools, hospitals, and mosques. Despite these challenges, Israel employs extensive measures to minimize civilian casualties that exceed standard military practice, including advance warnings through leaflets, phone calls, text messages, and “roof knocking.” The IDF’s civilian-to-combatant casualty ratio remains significantly lower than the average in urban conflicts worldwide. For comparison, NATO operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere have resulted in higher civilian casualty rates despite facing less densely populated environments with fewer human shields.