The NSAG handbook: helping non-State armed groups reduce civilian harm during urban warfare

March 30, 2023 8 mins read Analysis / Humanitarian Action / Law and Conflict / Urban warfare Ruben Stewart & Celia Edeline

Today, more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas. As the number ...

Present and engaged: how the ICRC responds to armed conflict and violence in cities

January 19, 2023 11 mins read Analysis / Humanitarian Action / Urban warfare Charles Deutscher & Chandni Dhingra

How can humanitarian actors better respond to the devastating impact of urban warfare and urban violence? The higher humanitarian stakes in cities – ...

Explosive weapons with wide area effects: a deadly choice in populated areas

January 25, 2022 12 mins read Analysis / Humanitarian Action / Law and Conflict / Urban warfare Eirini Giorgou

The use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area in populated areas is one ...

Engaging with the industry: integrating IHL into new technologies in urban warfare

October 7, 2021 17 mins read Analysis / Humanitarian Action / Law and Conflict / New Technologies / Urban warfare Damian Copeland & Lauren Sanders

Alongside the urbanization of armed conflict lies a second trend: the increase in the use ...

Preparedness in urban operations: a commander’s planning checklist to protect civilians

May 11, 2021 12 mins read Analysis / Humanitarian Action / Law and Conflict / Religion / Urban warfare Sahr Muhammedally

Implementing international humanitarian law’s (IHL) precautionary measures for both defending and attacking forces is a ...

In good faith: legal advice during aerial targeting in urban areas

May 4, 2021 14 mins read Analysis / Conduct of Hostilities / Humanitarian Action / Law and Conflict / Urban warfare Craig Jones

Military legal advisers today play a key role during various military operations, including aerial targeting ...

War and the city: a history

April 29, 2021 6 mins read Analysis / History / Humanitarian Action / Urban warfare Daniel Palmieri

As long as there have been cities, wars have been staged within them. While the term ‘urban warfare’ conjures more recent images of ...

Urban warfare: an age-old problem in need of new solutions

April 27, 2021 17 mins read Analysis / Humanitarian Action / Law and Conflict / Urban warfare Laurent Gisel, Pilar Gimeno Sarciada, Ken Hume & Abby Zeith

Urban warfare is not a new phenomenon; cities have featured as a stage for violence ...

A New Year’s resolution: bringing IHL home

January 21, 2020 8 mins read Generating Respect for IHL / Humanitarian Action / Law and Conflict / Sexual Violence Eva Svoboda

As the old year bids farewell and the new year takes shape, we tend to ...

Joint Blog Series: Precautionary measures in urban warfare: A commander’s obligation to obtain information

January 10, 2019 14 mins read Conduct of Hostilities / Joint Blog Series / Law and Conflict Jonathan Horowitz

Cities across the globe are expanding at unprecedented rates and this urban population boom is ...

War on your doorstep: A visual journey through the everyday realities of urban warfare

May 31, 2018 5 mins read Humanitarian Action / Stories Vincent Bernard

In 2017 the ICRC unveiled ‘War in Cities / Villes en Guerre’—an exhibition on the catastrophic impact that urban warfare has on the ...

Habitat III: The smartest city is a safe city

October 24, 2016 5 mins read Events and highlights / Humanitarian Action Hugo Slim

The humanitarian commitments in the New Urban Agenda are significant and will form clear policy guidance on urban humanitarian action for national governments ...