Israel’s calculation to brutally retaliate seems immoral from the standpoint of those who are not facing an existential threat and even questionable to many supporters of Israel. Yet, halting the bombardment of Gaza to spare Palestinian civilians may encourage future attacks from the comfortable position Israel’s humanitarian concerns would provide to Hamas (and anyone else). The opposite is also true—multiplying horrific Palestinian casualties may also provoke more attacks on Israel. Since both choices incite enemy attacks, it seems rational for Israel to focus on destroying the enemy’s capacity to attack.

It is highly questionable whether Israel would trust not only Hamas’s recognition of Israel’s right to exist but even Hamas laying down all of its weapons and opening all of its tunnels in Gaza for Israeli inspection and control. Even if it would not, such a non-violent strategy would be more likely to divide Israelis, put Israel on the defensive, and open Gaza for free travel and trade. Not because peaceful means are morally superior but simply because Israel’s absolute domination in applying brute force leaves no other option to those prioritizing Palestinian lives.

Now, with the full might of the Israeli army unleashed against Gaza despite the protests of many liberal Western audiences, the moral tragedy is here, but perhaps too frightening to admit: both sides are completely locked in a zero-sum game of mutual distrust, almost as if they expect the other side to perish to credibly commit to peace. Even worse, no outside force seems either willing or capable of imposing a sustainable alternative.

The human suffering resulting from the ultimate zero-sum game of mutual distrust is a tragedy in itself. However, the deepest tragedy for many Western liberals, especially interventionists, is in facing the live global coverage of their doctrine’s collapse: they must either impotently observe or implicitly approve Israel prioritizing the destruction of Hamas over protecting Palestinian civilians. Both options are a betrayal of liberal interventionism. Denial is only amplifying the moral agony, hypocrisy, and resentment of the Global South.

Mladen Mrdalj is a political science professor at the Wenzhou Kean University in China. He received his Ph.D. from Northeastern University. His main areas of interest are Balkan politics and international politics of civil wars. Follow him on X at @mladen_mrdalj.

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