Armed Conflict

Just Security’s expert authors provide analysis on the legal, policy, and strategic dimensions of armed conflict, including the Russia-Ukraine war, the Israel-Hamas war, counterterrorism operations, conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa, and other armed conflicts across the globe, with a focus on international humanitarian law, war crimes and accountability, mitigating and remedying civilian harm, and the humanitarian impacts of warfare.

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3,562 Articles
A view of the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, on October 24, 2023, in Jerusalem, Israel.

The New October 7 Tribunal and the Legitimacy Challenge of Atrocity Adjudication

The tribunal will be judged not only by the verdicts it produces, but by the institutional model of accountability it leaves behind.
Police and forensic investigators examine the location of impact after a Russian drone struck an apartment building in Galati, eastern Romania.

Drones Over Europe: The Prohibition on the Use of Force and Unintended Harm

Russia’s drone incursions into E.U. territory raise important questions about how unintended engagements are regulated under international law.
Fans fill the stands at the top and bottom of the image, watching a basketball game on the light-colored wood of the basketball court in the center, which is emblazoned with the NBA logo and "Abu Dhabi Games 2023."

The NBA’s Genocide Problem

The NBA’s partnership with the United Arab Emirates is laundering the reputation of a regime that supports a militia responsible for ​committing genocide in Sudan.
Xi, at left, is seen walking alongside Putin in front of an honor guard standing at attention, dressed in formal white uniforms and caps with gold trim, holding bayonets pointed upwards.

China’s Global ‘Concierge Services’ to Strengthen Fellow Authoritarians

China's intrusive military, economic, and diplomatic aid to Russia, Iran, and others spreads autocratic practices such as secrecy, censorship, surveillance, and corruption.
Pigeons fly against a darkened, cloudy sky looming over a skyline of mid-rise buildings in the background and a destroyed concrete building in the foreground.

Ukraine and the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression: Redefining International Justice

The tribunal to prosecute Russia's crime of aggression seeks to close one of the most enduring gaps in international criminal law and strengthen the U.N. Charter.
Former head of political security in south Syria's Daraa province, Atif Najib (R) attends the first trial session at the Palace of Justice, in Damascus on April 26, 2026.

Syria’s Accountability Gap: The Najib Trial and the Case for the ICC

The first criminal trial against a senior Assad regime official comes at a time when Syria’s legal framework remains fragile.
Hegseth is seen in the foreground, walking by a wooden dias where members of the Senate Appropriations Committee are standing and sitting in a wood-paneled room.

Congress Can Act Now on U.S. DoD Inspector’s Report Revealing Violations of Civilian Harm Policy and Law

A Defense Department Inspector General report shows the Pentagon’s failure to prioritize congressionally mandated civilian protection mechanisms amid U.S. military action.
People walk through heavy rubble inside the destroyed courtyard of Al-Zeitoun Preparatory School in Gaza City, following Israeli airstrikes on June 29, 2025. The scene is viewed through metal bars in the foreground.

The ICESCR in Armed Conflict: Submission to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Experts argue ICESCR applies in armed conflict and caution against broad claims of international humanitarian law as lex specialis.
A woman with dark hair tied in a ponytail, wearing a plain dark t-shirt sits at a desk covered with gadgets in front of a window, in a small room with drones pinned to the plywood walls on three sides.

How Ukraine Became a Drone Superpower

Ukraine is rewriting the rules of air power, replacing stockpiles of weapons as key factors in warfare with quantity, speed, and the ability to learn faster than the enemy.
Head of the Shin Bet domestic security service Major General David Zini (L) speaks with Israel's army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir as they wait for a speech by US President Donald Trump at the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem on October 13, 2025.

“Hunting” the October 7 Attackers: What the Law of Armed Conflict Permits – and What It Doesn’t

Legal analysis of Israel's operation to kill or capture every individual involved in the October 7th massacre.
Posters of missing people hang on a monument in the centre of Marjeh Square in Damascus on December 26, 2024. (Photo by SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP via Getty Images)

The Search for the Missing in Syria: Learning from the Past

The head of Syria's Independent Institution of Missing Persons (IIMP) offers analysis and recommendations for a meaningful justice process.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks alongside US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and US President Donald Trump during a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 27, 2026. (Photo by Kent NISHIMURA / AFP via Getty Images)

The Pretext Behind the Trump Administration Labeling Cuba a State Sponsor of Terrorism

Cuba is not a state sponsor of terrorism. Its inclusion on the list reflects changing U.S. policy and the Trump administration's politicization of the "terrorist" designation.
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