As heads of state gather at the United Nations for their annual debate, starting Tuesday, many of them are bound to use established rules of war to condemn Israel while it intensifies its battle against Hezbollah. Yet, is the oft-cited “international humanitarian law” relevant to wars against terrorists?

That set of laws is constantly used by critics of Israel who seek to end its ability to defend against enemies. Yet, established rules meant to govern wars are based on international treaties between states, as well as customary norms. Israel vows to abide by them, but what about its non-state enemies — Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and other Iranian-backed militias?

None of these groups act according to the rules of war, a Hebrew University international law scholar, Robbie Sabel, tells the Sun. Yet, Israel must obey them because “when the other side deliberately murders babies, must we do the same?” The Israel Defense Force obviously doesn’t do so, he says.     

Yet, many signatories to international laws of war claim Israel does violate them. At the same time, these critics all but ignore its non-state enemies, which systematically violate rules that they are not party to.   

One of the most basic laws of war deals with the need for “distinction” between combatants and civilians. Another, known as “proportionality,” is designed to minimize civilian casualties when legitimate military targets are hit.   

On Monday, the IDF conducted a dramatic targeted hit at Beirut, reportedly killing or maiming Hezbollah’s third in command, Ali Karki. The commander of the organization’s southern front, Karki was widely seen as a top candidate to become Hezbollah’s military chief, as most of the rest of the organization’s founding members have been killed.   

Monday’s bombing at Beirut’s Dahiyeh district follows July’s killing of Hezbollah’s top commander, Fuad Shukr. Last week, the IDF bombed a Dahiyeh building, killing top terrorists — including Hezbollah’s most senior surviving military figure, Ibrahim Aqil — as they plotted a takeover of the Galilee.

Hitting an elite enemy command structure clearly falls under what is defined as legitimate war targeting, as long as care is taken to minimize incidental civilian casualties.  

On Monday the Israeli air force intensified bombing of civilian homes in Lebanon where Hezbollah is hiding rocket and missile launchers — a practice that blurs any distinction between civilians and armed forces.

The IDF has long mapped buildings where “Hezbollah rented ground floors of homes in Shiite villages in Lebanon,” Kan 11’s Arabic affairs correspondent, Elior Levy, says. “Homeowners who agreed were paid monthly rent. Each floor was converted into a storage area housing cruise missiles, heavy rockets, and more.”

Prior to bombing these sites, the IDF is warning residents of southern Lebanon and the Bekaa valley to leave any home where weapons are hidden. Long processions of automobiles were seen traveling toward Beirut and other safer districts on Monday. Aiming to keep Hezbollah’s human shields in place, the organization-owned television channels urged residents to ignore the IDF warnings, calling them a “trick to weaken the Lebanese people.”

War, nevertheless, is never sterile. More than 300 people were reportedly killed in Israeli air strikes across Lebanon on Monday. Calling it a “war of extermination,” the Lebanese prime minister, Najib Mikati, urged the UN and “influential countries” to stop Israel by any means necessary.

Yet, Mr. Mikati’s government is not, technically, a party to the current war. Hezbollah’s military, which tops the Department of State’s list of terror groups, is formally distinct from the American-backed Lebanese Armed Forces. While that national army is in theory obliged to fight according to the laws of war, Hezbollah is not.    

Ever since the Hamas attacks of October 7, nevertheless, UN and some American officials have condemned Israel for violating international humanitarian law in Gaza. Now, similar rebukes are being issued in regard to the war on Hezbollah. The UN Security Council convened several times last week, following mass hits on hand-held communication devices across Lebanon.  

“International humanitarian law prohibits the use of booby-trap devices in the form of apparently harmless portable objects,” the UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Turk, told the Security Council last week. “This attack clearly and unequivocally violates international humanitarian law,” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said on X, echoing the UN official.

“It does no such thing,” Mr. Sabel, the Hebrew University scholar and former legal adviser to the Jerusalem foreign ministry, counters. The operation, Israel argues, clearly targeted non-civilians while they used devices designed to communicate orders on military operations.

One example of why exploding objects are banned is a pre-October 7 Hamas tactic. The Gaza-based group often launched booby-trapped kites and colorful balloons into Israel. Those toy-like objects were specifically designed to maim and kill children as they picked them up. 

Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis — who are violating one of the most basic international laws by blocking a major civilian shipping artery — are rarely taken to task for their crimes. Israel, meanwhile, is constantly placed on the dockets for fighting these groups.