• Principle of distinction: Distinguish between civilians and fighters. Only attack military

objects or persons directly participating in hostilities. Do not attack those people not

participating in hostilities, nor objects expressly used by civilians.

• Principle of proportion: When planning or carrying out an attack, make sure that the

anticipated civilian casualties and damage to civilian objects— collateral damage— does not

exceed the expected military gain.

• Principle of precaution: When planning or carrying out an attack, do everything that you can

to minimize collateral damage—civilian casualties and damage to civilian objects. This may

mean for example changing the time of attack or the location of the attack, carefully selecting

the weapons to be used, and/or warning the civilian population in advance. If these measures

won’t achieve this objective, then cancelling the whole military action should seriously be

considered.