Milestones, particularly those as special as the twin-birth of a new century and millenium, lendthemselvestorhapsodyandtheurgetosaysomethingpositiveand forward-looking. The Yearbook is not merely succumbing to this tendency, however, when it observes that, in some important respects, 2000 proved itself an auspiciousopening. Therewasaflurryofactivityamongstatestoimplementint- national humanitarian law (IHL), most of it a consequence of states ratifying the several humanitarian law treaties that were concluded in the late-Nineties. States are starting to indicate that they are taking...

The world's only annual publication devoted to the study of the laws of armed conflict, the Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law provides a truly international forum for high-quality, peer-reviewed academic articles focusing on this highly-topical branch of international law. The Yearbook also includes a selection of documents from the reporting period, many of which are not accessible elsewhere and a comprehensive bibliography of all recent publications in humanitarian law and other relevant fields. Ease of use of the Yearbook is guaranteed by the inclusion of a detailed index....

The controversy surrounding the use of white phosphorus (hereinafter WP) by the 3 American armed forces to flush-out suspected insurgents in Fallujah, in 2005, followed by the use of phosphorous shells by the Israeli forces against the Hiz- 4 bullah in attacks against military targets in open ground in Lebanon in 2006, has led to a renewed interest in the legal status of WP-based munitions. Fear of fire and of burn injury is deeply embedded in the human psyche, so a dislike for incendiary 5 weapons is very natural, especially when women and children are the victims; but even in the case of...