"By the same token, it's totally fine for Hezbollah to raze Tel Aviv, because the IDF is based there, thus using civilians as human shields. And almost all Israelis become soldiers at age 18."

https://x.com/Frances_Coppola/status/1836331295770632514 / https://ghostarchive.org/archive/QWVJ0

I'm not advocating for anything. I'm just saying that it's unrealistic to expect people to just roll over for an enemy with greater conventional warfare capability.

Hiding among the civilian population is bad, but so is a situation where powerful states can oppress others without any check.

Personally, I'm not sure what a better alternative is. Which is why I asked my question.