Civilian Immunity in War: Legal Aspects

The duty to distinguish between combatants and civilians is the most fundamental principle of the law of armed conflict, or international humanitarian law (IHL), as it is now generally called. Under this principle, parties to an armed conflict must distinguish between combatants and civilians, and between military and civilian targets. Combatants and military objects may be the object of an attack; civilians and civilian objects may not. Parties in an armed conflict are also duty-bound to take measures of precaution to spare the civilian population, civilians, and civilian objects.