“NAZA” is Hebrew military shorthand for collateral damage. And when it comes to Gaza, that phrase is often used as if civilian casualties alone prove Israel committed a war crime.
That is not how the laws of war work.
The Geneva Conventions do not ban every civilian death in wartime. They require proportionality: expected civilian harm cannot be excessive compared to the military value of the target, and commanders must take feasible steps to minimize civilian casualties.
Some violations, however, are banned outright. Hostage-taking is not a proportionality question. Common Article 3 and Article 34 ban it outright. So does using civilians to shield military operations.
That matters in cases like the Nuseirat hostage rescue.
Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv were held in two homes in a crowded Gaza neighborhood near a busy market. Three of them were held in the home of Abdallah Aljamal, described in the script as a Hamas official and “journalist” for Palestine Chronicle.
On June 8, 2024, Israeli forces launched a rescue operation. Hamas terrorists opened fire, triggering a firefight that Israel responded to from the air and on the ground. Israel estimated fewer than 100 Palestinian casualties, including armed terrorists guarding the hostages, while Hamas claimed 274, a figure the script notes was unverified.
Civilian deaths are tragic. But the legal question is not simply whether civilians died. It is whether the expected harm was excessive compared to the military objective, and who put civilians in danger in the first place.
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© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
