The ban on looting long predates international law. Amid reports of looting by Israeli soldiers in Lebanon, we revisit how the Bible and ancient classical texts warned against turning war into a private business
A Lebanese citizen looking at damage caused by an IDF bombing of her home, in May. Credit: Mohammed Zaatari / AP
The ban on looting long predates international law. Amid reports of looting by Israeli soldiers in Lebanon, we revisit how the Bible and ancient classical texts warned against turning war into a private business
08:55 AM • June 19 2026 IDT
The Book of Esther ends with the Jews' victory over their adversaries: On the day they were supposed to become an object of killing, they killed their enemies. At the height of this reversal of fate, when they are hanging Haman and his 10 sons, the biblical author emphasizes that, notwithstanding the Jews' great triumph, "on the spoil[s] they laid not their hand" (9:10).
"I told the Prime Minister, even in our private meetings: For every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep," Ben-Gvir wrote on X/Twitter.
Col. S. commands "Nahalat Binyamin," the codename for the Israeli Air Force unit that plans and builds all of the Air Force's strike operations across the Middle East and, when necessary, anywhere.
The military revealed that one of the soldiers was Lieutenant-Colonel Dor Gedalia Ben Simhon, aged 32, from Beit HaShita, the commander of the 52nd Battalion, 401st Brigade.
The poll suggests growing voter dissatisfaction with both Likud and Bennett's alliance, with Eisenkot's Yashar emerging as a major beneficiary and the opposition regaining a potential majority.