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A big difference is that Israel is a state actor, Hezbollah isn't. This is why I don't consider Iranian civilians legitimate targets, because Iran has a marked military. So does Israel. This way it is possible to distinguish between military and non-military personnel. Hezbollah doesn't. They have some folks in uniform sometimes but the vast majority lurk in the shadows. It's easy to target the Israeli military because 90+% of them are in uniform and labelled buildings/tanks/structures.
Also, Israel just killed Ibrahim Aqil, who was responsible for the 1983 marine barracks bombing that killed 241 US military personnel. No "thank you" or "justice has been served" from the feckless Biden administration - disgraceful.
When Israel (the state actor) is using spies to covertly train, arm, and plan the assassination of Iranian civilians who were not military members . . . you don't consider this 'lurking in the shadows'? What do you call it when Israel distinguishes between military and non-military personnel, and chooses to kill the non-military ones?
Is there not a double standard being advocated here?
Nuclear engineers working on Iran's nuclear weapons program are not mere civilians.
Some likely were, but not all the scientists assassinated were working on Iran's weapons program. Moussad has a history of killing the wrong people while performing these extra-judicial murders and getting away with it/having the Israeli government attempt to cover it up (see the murder of waiter Ahmed Bouchikhi as one of the rare instances where six of the fifteen Moussad agents involved were caught and convicted in Norway as just one example - Israel was willing to pay some money to the family for the murder, but never admitted their mistake).
I've also got to ask you . . . how far exactly does justifiable killing based on military association go in your eyes? You've asserted that anyone involved in a nuclear weapons program is not a civilian. But what if you work in a factory that makes bombs? What if you work in a factory that produces ammunition, some of which is for sale to the military and some for private use? What if your factory produces bolts that are used in tank construction? I'm curious, where exactly do you draw the line?
Do you agree with my correction, that nuclear engineers are not merely civilians? Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons. Iran wants Israel wiped off the map. You calling nuclear engineers "civilians" needs correcting, because nuclear weapons are not a peaceful civilian enterprise.
No, I don't. Iran has nuclear power plants used for generating electricity for it's civilian population. Iran also has a nuclear weapons program. Israel has assassinated people working on the former as well as the latter.
The problem with extra-judicial murders being sanctioned and carried out by a country is that oversight and accountability are both non-existant. I'm not OK with any state acting in this manner. Without strong and open judicial oversight, abuses will certainly occur, and the state has no reason to ever come clean or try to correct mistakes made (to the extent that this is even possible - dead is dead).
As to the killing of a waiter in 1973, you left out vital context. In 1972, the Palestinian militant organization Black September murdered 11 Israeli Olympic athletes. That is the context for Mossad mistaking someone as the mastermind of that attack. Mossad killed many members of both the PLO and Black September to avenge the deaths of its Olympic athletes. When you divide that one waiter's death over the number of militants killed, your mention of a "history of killing the wrong people" rings hollow. You're cherry picking one death, and ignoring hundreds of Palestinian terrorists and militants all tied to the same event, the same context.
Context actually makes it worse in my eyes. Israel's thirst for vengeance overrode their interest in finding the correct party to retaliate against . . . And then they refused to ever take responsibility for their actions. Being innocent and wronged doesn't give you the right to wrong another innocent person because you feel bloodlust.
Your list of "what ifs" doesn't mean much until Israel makes a practice of killing people in those roles. Other than nuclear researchers/scientists/engineers, who does Israel target outside the military?
Israel has been , and continues to restrict flow of medical supplies and food into Gaza. This was premeditated (as evidenced by comments made by senior Israeli politicians) and is intended to punish Palestinan civilians for the actions of Hamas. It's not currently known how many civilians have died in Gaza by these actions, but most estimates I've read that deaths are higher from this than the 41,000 dead from Israeli weapons since October 7th. This is unequivocally genocide.
