Indiscriminate attack in the context of Gaza War (2008–09)

During the Russo-Ukrainian war (2022–present), the Russian military have continuously carried out deliberate attacks against civilian targets and indiscriminate attacks in densely populated areas. The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine says the Russian military exposed the civilian population to unnecessary and disproportionate harm by using cluster bombs and by firing other weapons with wide-area effects into civilian areas, such as missiles, heavy artillery shells and multiple launch rockets. As of 2025, the attacks had resulted in the UN-documented deaths of between 15,000 and an estimated 40,000 dead civilians. On 22 April 2022, the UN reported that of the 2,343 civilian casualties it had been able to document, it could confirm 92.3% of these deaths were as a result of the actions of the Russian armed forces.

On 5 July 2022, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Michelle Bachelet, reported that most civilian casualties documented by her office had been caused by the Russian army's use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas, calling it "indisputable". By 30 June 2023, OHCHR assessed that 90.5% of all civilian deaths were caused by such indiscriminate attack, and that 84.2% of them were recorded in Ukrainian-held territory. El País estimated that by March 2023 Russian forces were firing at a rate of between 600,000 and 1.8 million shells per month. By February 2024, Russia had fired between 12 and 17 million artillery shells against Ukraine. By the end of 2023, Russian forces launched about 7,400 missiles and 3,900 Shahed drone strikes against Ukraine according to Ukrainian military officials. Reports on the use of cluster bombs raised concerns about the high number of civilian casualties and the long-lasting danger of unexploded ordnance. According to the OHCHR, cluster bombs have been used by Russian armed forces and pro-Russian separatists in densely populated areas, resulting in civilian casualties.

Carpet bombing, also known as "saturation bombing" and "obliteration bombing", is a large area bombardment done in a progressive manner to inflict damage in every part of a selected area of land. Carpet bombing refers to a type of area bombing that aims to effect complete destruction of the target area by exploding bombs in every part of it. The phrase evokes the image of explosions completely covering an area, in the same way that a carpet covers a floor. Carpet bombing is usually achieved by dropping many unguided bombs.

The term "obliteration bombing” is sometimes used to describe especially intensified bombing with the intention of destroying a city or a large part of a city. The term "area bombing" refers to indiscriminate bombing of an area and also encompasses cases of carpet bombing, including obliteration bombing. It was used in that sense especially during World War II and the Korean War. Area bombing is contrasted with precision bombing. The latter is directed at a selected target – not necessarily a small, and not necessarily a tactical target, as it could be an airfield or a factory – and it does not intend to inflict widespread damage. The term “area bombing” came into prominence during World War II.

The Gaza War, also known as the First Gaza War, Operation Cast Lead, or the Gaza Massacre, and referred to as the Battle of al-Furqan by Hamas, was a three-week armed conflict between Gaza Strip Palestinian paramilitary groups and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that began on 27 December 2008 and ended on 18 January 2009 with a unilateral ceasefire. The conflict resulted in 1,166–1,417 Palestinian and 13 Israeli deaths. Over 46,000 homes were destroyed in Gaza, making more than 100,000 people homeless.

A six month long ceasefire between Israel and Hamas ended on 4 November, when the IDF made a raid into Deir al-Balah, central Gaza to destroy a tunnel, killing several Hamas militants. Israel said the raid was a preemptive strike and Hamas intended to abduct further Israeli soldiers, while Hamas characterized it as a ceasefire violation, and responded with rocket fire into Israel. Attempts to renew a truce between Israel and Hamas were unsuccessful. On December 27, Israel began Operation Cast Lead with the stated aim of stopping rocket fire. In the initial air assault, Israel attacked police stations, military targets including weapons caches and suspected rocket firing teams, as well as political and administrative institutions, striking in the densely populated cities of Gaza, Khan Yunis and Rafah. After hostilities broke out, Palestinian groups fired rockets in retaliation for the aerial bombardments and attacks. The international community considers indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian structures that do not discriminate between civilians and military targets as illegal under international law.

In military aviation, area bombardment or area bombing is a type of aerial bombardment in which bombs are dropped over the general area of a target. The term "area bombing" came into prominence during World War II. Area bombing is a form of strategic bombing. It can serve several intertwined purposes: to disrupt the production of military materiel, to disrupt lines of communications, to divert the enemy's industrial and military resources from the primary battlefield to air defence and infrastructure repair, and to demoralize the enemy's population (see terror bombing).

Carpet bombing, also known as "saturation bombing" and "obliteration bombing," refers to a type of area bombing that aims to effect complete destruction of the target area by exploding bombs in every part of it. The term "area bombing” refers to indiscriminate bombing of an area and also encompasses cases of carpet bombing, including obliteration bombing. It was used in that sense especially during World War II and the Korean War. Area bombing is contrasted with precision bombing. Area bombing is contrasted with precision bombing. The latter is directed at a selected target – not necessarily a small, and not a necessarily tactical target, as it could be an airfield or a factory – and it does not intend to inflict widespread damage.

During the Russo-Ukrainian war (2022–present) starting with the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian military and authorities have committed war crimes, such as deliberate attacks against civilian targets, including on hospitals, medical facilities and on the energy grid; indiscriminate attacks on densely populated areas; the abduction, torture and murder of civilians; forced deportations; sexual violence; destruction of cultural heritage; and the killing and torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war.

On 2 March 2023, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) opened a full investigation into past and present allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide committed in Ukraine by any person from 21 November 2013 onwards, set up an online method for people with evidence to initiate contact with investigators, and sent a team of investigators, lawyers, and other professionals to Ukraine to begin collecting evidence. Two other independent international agencies are also investigating violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law in the area: the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, established by the United Nations Human Rights Council on 4 March 2022, and the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, deployed by Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The latter started monitoring human rights violations by all parties in 2014 and employs nearly 60 UN human rights monitors. On 7 April 2022, the United Nations suspended Russia from the UN Human Rights Council. By late October, the Ukrainian Prosecutor's office had documented 39,347 alleged Russian war crimes, identified more than 600 suspects, and initiated proceedings against approximately 80 of them.