GAZA: Proportional retribution or disproportional grace?

BACKGROUND

The laws of war are intended to protect those who are not participating in hostilities during times of armed conflict.  Targeting civilians in a conflict is a war crime.  But what if there are civilians in or near a legitimate military target?  What if schools and hospitals are used as military compounds and civilians as human shields?

This is where something in the laws of war called “proportionality” comes into play.  This law legally allows the targeting of civilians to obtain a military advantage subject to the rule of proportionality.

Rule 14 of the International Humanitarian Law Databases States the following^[1]:

Launching an attack which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated, is prohibited.

Last month, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it believed that it had killed two Palestinian civilians for every Hamas militant, a proportionate ratio an IDF spokesperson described to CNN at that time as “tremendously positive.”  The IDF declared that this is unique in terrorist warfare and that they pride themselves in their efforts to limit civilian casualties.  The rule of retribution was applied proportionally they argued.

What was not mentioned in the interview however was the homeless, the injured, the traumatised, the fatherless and the families.  If “one to two deaths” (i.e. 1 out of every three people killed) is the criteria for “positive warfare” then humanity has stooped to a new level of depravity.    If we only value life once it is gone, we don’t value life at all.  Let’s consider the following:

• For every 1 Israeli killed in Israel on 7 October (1,139 in total), 21 Palestinians were killed in Gaza (23,000 in total)
• For every 1 Israeli child killed in Israel on 7 October (30 children), 344 Palestinian children were killed in Gaza (9,600 in total).
• For every 1 Hamas militant killed (8,000 according to the IDF), 240 people were left homeless, literally nowhere to go and nowhere to shelter in a freezing winter without food, electricity and fuel (1,9 million in total)
• For every militant killed, 45 homes were destroyed – together with hopes, dreams and a livelihood (355,000 in total)
• With 45,000 bombs and missiles dropped on Gaza (65,000 tons of explosives which outweigh and is more powerful than three nuclear bombs that the US dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima), it took an average of 6 bombs and the destruction of 13 homes to kill one militant

Every soul that perished, regardless of what side of the wall it happened, is a tragedy beyond words.  But the proportionality is a consideration that needs to be addressed in a way that Christ would have done.

FROM A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE

Mathew 5:38-45  “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’  But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.  And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.  If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.  Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.  “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

The law of proportionality is an Old Testament, Biblical principle.  In Matthew 5:38 Jesus refers to this principle as He addresses the crowd  “You have heard that it was said, ‘ an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’  This was not just a saying that Jesus was quoting, it is scripture and comes from Exodus 21:24[2]; Leviticus 24:20[3] and Deuteronomy 19:21[4].   Important to note though is that these scriptures were NOT there to instruct retribution but to limit retribution.  It does not encourage followers to take revenge by “taking an eye for an eye” but to consider proportional retribution; “taking nothing more than an eye for an eye”.  The requirements for retribution were restricted to proportionality.  God understood the heart of man and knew that revenge has a way of spiraling out of control when there are no guidelines.  It has to be limited to an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, not a life for an eye or a foot for a tooth.  It was a principle given to judges so that they may not insist on a greater punishment than was proper.

Some of the Jewish teachers, who were not the most compassionate men in the world, insisted upon revenge.  It is not much different today, sadly even from within the Christian community.  For many, after the indiscriminate terror attack of 7 October 2023, their understanding of retribution is disproportional to the justice prescribed.  Hamas, and per association the Palestinians, need to be punished regardless of how many innocent people perish in the process.  An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth – at least.

BUT – and with Jesus there is always a BUT – under the new covenant of grace, we find that followers of Christ are called to a disproportionate response when it comes to violence.  Where the Old Testament warned of proportionate retribution, Jesus leads us to a place of disproportionate grace. 

Matthew 5:39  But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 

The principle in all that Christ taught, lived and displayed – in life and in death –  was to seek redemptive justice and not retributive justice.  It is now our duty to seek an alternative response to revenge.  This is non-optional, whether we feel they deserve it or not and whether we feel like it or not.

But this is not to be a proportionate grace, giving only as much as we think people deserve.  The Lord is giving a new command of disproportionate grace.

• loving more than is justified.
• risking more than is required.
• encouraging more than is deserved.
• sacrificing more than is normal.
• to be kinder more than is anticipated.
• trusting more than is reasonable.
• working harder than is demanded.
• giving more than is necessary.
• forgiving more than is earned.
• blessing more than what is merited.

Within a Kingdom context, there can be no place for half-hearted, proportional grace.  God is determined to bless mankind.  As the Church, we will only become the means by which it will be achieved through exuberant, generous, abundant, and disproportionate grace.

 

[1] Customary IHL – Rule 14. Proportionality in Attack (icrc.org)

[2] Exodus 21:23-25  But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. 

[3] Leviticus 24:19-20  Anyone who injures their neighbor is to be injured in the same manner:  fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. The one who has inflicted the injury must suffer the same injury. 

[4] Deuteronomy 19:21  Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.