Armed Conflict • International Law
Law of Armed Conflict/IHL
1,649 Articles
Resource: The Israeli Government’s Legal Position on Who is a “Combatant” in the Gaza Conflict [Updated]
There has been a lot of loose talk in the media and by some commentators about the government of Israel’s official position on the definition of who is a lawful target in Gaza.…
Who does the New York Times think is a combatant in Gaza?
There is a strange quality to today’s story by the New York Times on the civilian casualty rate in Gaza (“Civilian or Not? New Fight in Tallying the Dead from the Gaza Conflict”).…
Guest Post: Has Hamas Overplayed Its Lawfare Strategy?
In the current Gaza conflict, the adversaries are employing very different strategies to achieve their operational objectives. Israel is executing a robust military strategy. By…
A Primer on the Laws of War that Apply to the Gaza Conflict
We were about to produce a primer on the law of war framework that governs the ongoing hostilities in Gaza. However, Human Rights Watch has just posted what we think is an excellent…
Russian Treaty Violations: A Blast from the Past or an Omen for the Future
On July 28, the New York Times ran a story with the headline “U.S. Says Russia Tested Cruise Missile, Violating Treaty.” Surprisingly, this story about an arms control…
Multiple Choice: Who Said This on Transparency and Targeted Killings Across State Borders?
Question: Who said this? “While the U.S. regards attacks on terrorists being protected in the sovereign territory of other States as potentially justifiable when undertaken in…
Road Map II: Legal Avenues to Prosecute a US Citizen for War Crimes—The Case of Gotabaya Rajapaksa
This is the second post arising out of a presentation I made at a congressional briefing earlier this month on issues of accountability in Sri Lanka. The analysis below is also…
Road Map I: What More Congress (and the Administration) Can Do to Promote Accountability in Sri Lanka
The Obama administration has taken the lead internationally to promote accountability in Sri Lanka. The principal focus is on war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during…
New Court Orders Signal More Drone Documents Are on the Way
For more than four years of Freedom of Information Act litigation concerning the government’s targeted-killing program, the government managed to avoid releasing a single document…
Immunity Before the African Court of Justice & Human & Peoples Rights—The Potential Outlier
As is clear from our prior coverage of the issue, the availability of jurisdictional or defensive immunities is ever-present in discussions of how to ensure accountability for…
Autonomy, “Killer Robots,” and Human Control in the Use of Force – Part II
[Editor’s Note: This is Part II of a two-part guest post from Paul Scharre, a fellow and Project Director for the 20YY Warfare Initiative at the Center for a New American…
Autonomy, “Killer Robots,” and Human Control in the Use of Force – Part I
[Editor’s Note: This is Part I of a two-part guest post from Paul Scharre, a fellow and Project Director for the 20YY Warfare Initiative at the Center for a New American…