US and Israel Are Normalizing Gaza-Style Warfare Methods in Iran and Lebanon
Source: Branko Marcetic. "The US and Israel Are Making Gaza-Style War the New Normal." April 1, 2026. jacobin.com
The Gist
The author argues that the brutal way Israel fought in Gaza - bombing civilians, destroying hospitals and schools, killing children - was intentionally designed to become the new normal for how wars are fought. Now the US and Israel are using these same horrific methods in Iran and Lebanon, proving they want to make this level of brutality standard practice.
Conclusion
The United States and Israel are deliberately making the horrific warfare methods used in Gaza the new standard for modern warfare, as evidenced by their current military campaigns in Iran and Lebanon
Premises
- US military lawyers and experts explicitly viewed Gaza as 'a dress rehearsal' for future conflicts with adversaries like China
- The bombing intensity in Iran matches or exceeds Gaza's unprecedented levels, with similar daily munition rates and targeting patterns
- Israel is using identical tactics in Iran and Lebanon as in Gaza: bombing residential areas, targeting civilian infrastructure, killing children, and attacking healthcare facilities
- Israeli officials have explicitly referenced their Gaza actions to justify their war plans in Lebanon, making the connection overt
- US officials have abandoned previous rhetorical restraints about civilian casualties and are now using Israeli-style language about collective punishment
- The systematic targeting of civilian infrastructure (hospitals, schools, water facilities, heritage sites) follows the same pattern across all three conflicts
- International law principles that were established after WWII to prevent such warfare are being deliberately abandoned
Assumptions
- The Gaza conflict constituted genocide and war crimes under international law
- There is a deliberate strategic decision rather than coincidental similarity in tactics
- International law should constrain warfare methods regardless of the parties involved
- The post-WWII international legal framework was morally and practically sound
- Military tactics used against one population will inevitably be normalized for use against others