ABSTRACT
Kinetic warfare is not the only source of harm to civilians during conflict. Since ancient times, civilians have suffered shortages and deprivation, even starvation, during wartime. In October 2000, a second Intifada erupted in Gaza and the West Bank. By the end of that year, Gaza had become a source of terror not only by means of rockets shot at nearby Israeli towns and settlements, but also by means of suicide bombers entering Israel, exploding themselves together with dozens of civilians. The Israeli court was quite right, then, neither to examine the issue of siege warfare, nor was it called upon to do so. The notion of intervening agency may be more useful than the Doctrine of Double Effect, both in vindicating Israel's position and in understanding the legality of siege warfare, with which Walzer struggles. Direct harm to civilians, and the case of Gaza in particular, clearly require to be confronted more directly than with theoretical arguments.
