Since the extensive terrorist attacks against the USA on September 11, 2001, the war on terrorism has become an increasingly prevalent phenomenon. Despite the controversy surrounding warfare against terrorist organizations on foreign state territories, world-leading politicians have repeatedly attempted to legitimize and justify extensive military counteroperations by invoking the right to self-defense under the UN Charter. As the UN Charter is designed to regulate warfare between states, it may be considered outdated in relation to the contemporary issue of international terrorism. Following Hamas' terrorist attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023, we have witnessed significant devastation and a high number of civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip as a result of the counteroperation led by Israel with support from the USA. The purpose of this work is to investigate whether states have the right to self-defense against non-state actors outside their territory and how this right has changed since the September 11 attacks on the USA. The study also aims to clarify the extent to which armed self-defense against terrorist organizations can and has been justified by examining rhetorical strategies. This is to investigate and thoroughly discuss the consequences suffered by the civilian population as a result of an expanded right to self-defense. A critical discourse analysis, based on van Dijk's understanding of power dimensions, is the tool used in the study to examine the speeches of Presidents Bush, Biden, and Prime Minister Netanyahu. The results of this study show that used rhetorical strategies contribute to and enable the dehumanization of the civilian population living in territories where terrorist organizations operate, decrease ethical responsiveness towards the civilian population and enable physical attacks on a vulnerable population. Responsibility for the civilian population is shifted onto attacking terrorist organizations, indicating the need for clearer moral obligations for nation-states utilizing the right to self-defense to combat international terrorism.