Legal and democratic dilemmas in the counter-terrorism struggle: The targeted killing policy

the objective of the following article is to conduct an analysis of the policy of targeted killings applied by western countries, and to determine the main legal and democratic challenges that states face in the counterterrorism struggle against non-state actors. at the same time it will show how the phenomenon of terrorism has entered a more complex environment where the traditional boundaries of the law enforcement model are no longer been used as the only method to combat terrorism. the application of laws of war has been included in the counterterrorism struggle, allowing several countries to conduct targeted killing operations against key terrorist leaders. the analysis will address the american and israeli approach of targeted killings, as these countries are both deeply involved in counterterrorism struggle against non-state actors acting among civilian population.