The Dahiya Doctrine: Israel's Military Strategy of Civilian Infrastructure Destruction

[Celerity]

https://www.anewpolicy.org/the-legislate/95j703ykbsr0bjj3xgz9bgepidtbw0


A crater in Dahiya in 2008, two years after the 2006 Lebanon War

What is the Dahiya Doctrine?

The Dahiya Doctrine, a primary tool of Israeli military strategy, calls for the intentional, disproportionate destruction and annihilation of civilian infrastructure. Designed as a form of psychological warfare, its blueprint asserts that collective punishment of a civilian population within an enemy “stronghold” will serve as discouragement against continued support of a militant group by that civilian population.

It was first implemented during the 2006 Israeli assault on Southern Lebanon by former Israeli military General and later Chief of Staff of the Israeli Military Gadi Eisenkot. Its name found its roots in the Lebanese suburb of Dahiya, a town flattened by Israeli bombs, which was originally a stronghold for Hezbollah. The doctrine’s official onset came in 2008 with Eisenkot's famous words, “We will apply disproportionate force on it (village) and cause great damage and destruction there. From our standpoint, these are not civilian villages, they are military bases… This is not a recommendation. This is a plan. And it has been approved.” Since then, the Dahiya Doctrine continues to guide the behavior of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) – seen today across Gaza, Lebanon, and some reported regions of Syria.

Its strategy uses Domicide, carried out through airstrikes, with additional support of ground methods through tanks and bulldozers. The Dahiya Doctrine asserts that if enough psychological terror and physical distress is imposed on a civilian population, eventually the civilian population will turn on its own through rebellion - In southern Lebanon, this being Hezbollah, in Gaza, this being Hamas. This rebellion will then further assist in Israeli’s military goals - an Israeli hope for capitulation through collective punishment.

Violations of International Law & it’s lack of workability

Under international law, the targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure, as well as usage of collective punishment to achieve military gain, is highly illegal and amounts to war crimes. As articulated in the Fourth Geneva Convention, “The civilian population as such, as well as individual civilians, shall not be the object of attack. Acts or threats of violence the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the civilian population are prohibited.” Simultaneously, The Rome Statute, under Article 8 of the International Criminal Court (ICC) proclaims a war crime as, “the intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities.”

snip