THE NEW STATESMAN

Reviewing politics and culture since 1913 | 18-24 July 2025 £5.95

I have no ideological position on this conflict. I approach it simply as a lawyer and a historian. But I sometimes wonder what Israel's defenders would regard as unacceptable, if the current level of Israeli violence in Gaza is not enough. This is not self-defence. It is not even the kind of collateral damage which can be unavoidable in war. It is collective punishment, in other words revenge, visited not just on Hamas but on an entire population. It is, in short, a war crime."

BY JONATHAN SUMPTION

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