The issue at hand is that the term “war” implies a level of symmetry that simply is not present, and that is why these outlets are using it. It softens Israel’s role by minimizing the reality that Gaza is an open-air prison and completely cut off from any means to a protect or defend itself, let alone wage an effective resistance or in any way justify the force being used.

In a conflict where the casualties and oppression are so heavily weighted on one side, the term “war” completely warps this reality. It implies that both sides have equivalent responsibility for the war starting, equivalent pressure and means to end the war, and thus the outside world can only wait for the conflict to reach natural conclusion. The reality here is that this “natural conclusion” is the complete annihilation of Gaza and the subjugation of any person living there who isn’t outright murdered, and that the outside world could easily prevent that conclusion if it was not so heavily invested in actively helping the aggressor.

All the pressure here is on people who have nowhere else to go and will be annihilated if the outside world fails to pull back the aggressor. That is not war, just as a trained dog mauling a caged man with his limbs bound behind him is not self defense just because that man theoretically should have the same rights as the dog’s trainers. The intentions and consequences at play are not at all even in the way that term implies.