DEUT629 In the section of Midrash that discussed Jewish law, Sifri describes proper Jewish behavior in times of war. In addition to the prohibition to intentionally defeat the enemy by tactics of starvation (unless they resist all peace overtures), is also forbidden to kill the women and children in war, the "innocents" (Midrash, Sifri, Shoftim 56-57). Thus, even in obligatory war, a Jewish army should be sensitive not to cause collateral damage, whenever possible. It should be noted that this was written at a time when every other army in the world killed innocents indiscriminately, including women and children in the course of war, unless they were later "saved" for slave labor or other future (generally nefarious) uses by the soldiers. In accordance with the verses quoted above, Jewish law mandates that when fighting a conventional war, the Jews must first publicly declare their intentions to fight by sending public letters to the enemy (Maimonides, Hilchot Melachim 6:5). This allows the innocent civilians and those who do not want to fight to escape the battle scene. Unfortunately, as noted above, this tactic could not possibly be used in our situation [i.e., fighting terrorists who are located within civilian populations], since the element of surprise is a prerequisite for killing the terrorist. As soon as the Israeli army would warn the residence of an apartment house that it intends to kill the terrorist living there and that they should therefore leave the place, the element of surprise would be lost, and the terrorists would be able to escape along with the others. When fighting a Jewish war, Jewish law also forbids an army from completely surrounding the enemy (Maimonides, Hilchot Melachim 6:7). One of the reasons for this is to allow any civilians and those that do not want to fight to leave the camp or escape the city, thus preventing the bloodshed of innocent lives. Even when there is a Torah Mitzvah to completely destroy a city of idol worshipers by burning the city--Including all lives and all booty--according to the simple reading of the text, Nachmanides says that innocent women and children may not be killed (although not all opinions agree) (Deuteronomy 13:9 with Nachmanides commentary). Although this principle of not killing innocent people during a war seems obvious by twenty-first-century standards, the massacres that took place in Sudan and before that in Rwanda just a few years ago demonstrate that many nations even today do not abide by or practice this principle. At the time Nachmanides lived, and certainly in Torah times, no army observed these ethics in war except for the Jewish people. Similarly, Maimonides rules that in the course of any non--obligatory war, a Jewish army may not kill innocent women and children (Maimonides, Hilchot Melachim 6:5).
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