Last October 7, Saturday, the terrorist group Hamas carried out a brutal massacre of Israeli Jews: they killed about 1400 civilians and took more than 200 hostages. The invasion started a new war between Israel and a Palestinian terrorist group, which could spread in the Middle East against other groups and countries that are enemies of Israel. For now, it is a punitive expedition of a sovereign country recognized by the whole world against a political-military party, in power on a territory of 360 square kilometers. Hamas’s goal is to destroy all Jews, as they are fueled by an ancient hatred of being stripped of their territory and cornered in the Gaza Strip. Palestine has never been a sovereign state, while the Israelis have enough evidence, since the time of Abraham, that this is their promised land. There are other Palestinian enclaves annexed to Israel and governed by the Palestinian Authority (in which Hamas does not participate), but none are as populous, poor and angry as the Gaza Strip.

Israel has one of the best-equipped armed forces in the world, as well as superintelligence and a brotherly alliance with the United States. They immediately besieged the Gaza Strip, leaving it without electricity, water and supplies, and daily bombard targeted buildings and entire neighborhoods where their enemies are supposed to be. They have already killed more than 8,000 Palestinians, including fighters and civilians, and left a huge number wounded. After three weeks of softening by bombardment, they enter with leaden feet through an inextricable labyrinth of tunnels where Hamas terrorists hide and circulate and where hostages are supposed to be turned into human shields.

You cannot commit a crime in order to punish another, among other things, because the one who commits it descends to the status of a criminal.

Every country has the right to defend itself when attacked, but is Israel’s retaliation against Palestine proportionate? And how is that proportion measured? The stories of the Israeli survivors, the cell phone footage and the scenes found in the kibbutzim are so terrifying that they encourage unlimited punishment of those who caused them, but can it be done? Israel says it will destroy Hamas, no matter the cost.

It seems like a step back four thousand years in history, to before the law of retaliation, which limited revenge to strict equality. The strongest cannot take revenge to the extent of their own strength, and at the same time the compensation of the weakest is protected. But in these four thousand years the law has developed, at least in the West, and handed over the monopoly of justice and the application of punishments to independent judges and forces. You cannot commit a crime in order to punish another, among other things, because the one who commits it descends to the status of a criminal. Matching one death with another death only results in two deaths and, above all, adds hatred after hatred, generation after generation, century after century. That’s why the crazy law that Christianity contrasted with that of retribution is wise: that of the other face, which assumes love instead of hate, but it also turns out that if they don’t, two don’t fight. (OR)