As we write this introduction, the international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine persists and has now endured for over two years. In addition, the conflict in the Middel East is escalating. Israel continues to conduct hostilities against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and has recently launched military action against Hezbollah in Lebanon, including a ground assault. The killing of Hezbollah’s leader Hasan Nasrallah led to Iran, a key ally and supporter of Hezbollah, firing a volley of missiles at Israel. While most of these missiles were intercepted by Israeli air defence systems, Israel’s Prime Minister has vowed to respond and conduct attacks within and against Iran.

It is fair to say that the world order is in very dangerous times. The role of international law in containing these conflicts and limiting their impact on civilian populations is critical. In this Journal, we aim to publish articles that seek to clarify how international law applies to these conflicts. At the same, we realise that armed conflicts and humanitarian crises more generally are rampant in many other parts of the world, and our aim is to ensure that each conflict and crisis attracts the legal attention it deserves. This is our call to the international legal community to submit articles and reviews to the Journal examining the application of international law to these armed conflicts and humanitarian crises.

We have been the editors in chief of this Journal since 2018. We have decided to step down as editors in chief and allow a new team to breathe new life into the Journal. We have very much enjoyed our time as editors in chief and would like to thank the advisory board, editorial board, authors, reviewers, and readers for their support and assistance. The new editors in chief, who will take over from Volume 16(1), are Jennifer Maddocks, Tamer Morris, and Simon Mckenzie. We wish them the best for their new role. Marco Longobardo, our fantastic reviews editor, will continue in his role.

This Issue begins with a symposium on ten years of practice of the monusco Force Intervention Brigade and is edited by Marco Longobardo. The symposium opens with an introduction by Marco and contains three articles. Marco will introduce these articles but they are authored by Jennifer Giblin, Marco himself, and Gina Heathcote and Lucia Kula. As per our Journal’s policy, all articles underwent blind peer review.

Beyond the symposium, this Issue contains five articles. The first article is authored by Yvonne Breitwieser-Faria and examines the role of environmental protections during armed conflict as supportive mechanisms for the prevention of atrocity crimes. The second article is by Surbhi Soni and assesses whether indirect military advantage can be considered when determining whether an attack is proportionate under international humanitarian law. The third article is written by Camilla Cooper and identifies and examines the conditions for the lawful use of autonomous weapons. The next article is by Elliot Winter and analyses the application of the levee en masse doctrine to the international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Following this, Lindsay Moir examines the status of belligerent reprisals under customary international humanitarian law. Finally, Kasim Balarabe develops a comprehensive approach to protecting detainees in non-international armed conflicts and counterterrorism operations.

This Issue concludes with three review essays. The first is by Kheda Djanaralieva; the second by Michelle Coleman; and the third by Maria Chiara Vitucci.