דברים, פרק כ׳, פסוק י״ג

Winning a war and conquering an enemy city are never guaranteed outcomes. Success depends entirely on the Israelites' prior conduct. The promise that God will deliver the city into their hands is strictly conditional. It requires the army to carefully follow all the previously outlined rules of warfare. Only when they act according to these instructions is victory assured [רש י ואדרת אליהו].

The actual conquest takes place after a severe and uncompromising siege. During this time, the army is permitted to apply intense pressure on the city's inhabitants. This includes harsh measures such as causing starvation, cutting off the water supply, and even bringing about disease to force a surrender [תורה תמימה].

Once the city falls, the instruction is to execute the male population. However, this applies specifically to adult men, as they are the active combatants [מלבי ם וביאור שטיינזלץ]. Male children are entirely exempt from this decree. They are classified alongside the rest of the young dependents who are spared and taken as captives, following the precedent set during the conflict with Midian [מלבי״ם].

Following the defeat of the fighting force, the legality of taking the city's goods comes into question. The Torah explicitly permits gathering spoils to remove any concern that doing so constitutes theft, or that the captured property must be dedicated solely to God. There are differing views on how far these wartime permissions extend. Some suggest that the extreme conditions of war allowed soldiers to consume even non-kosher food found in the city. Conversely, others maintain that this special allowance to take property without it being considered theft was strictly limited to the wars fought against the seven Canaanite nations [מלבי״ם].