The Pentagon has acknowledged that US strikes in Yemen killed at least 153 civilians in three attacks in 2025, exposing the scale of civilian harm during Washington’s campaign against the Houthis.

AOAV argues here that Britain’s modern military-industrial complex has expanded beyond defence manufacturing into politics, finance and technology, raising profound questions about democratic accountability and the protection of civilians in war.

More than 50 UK civil society organisations – including AOAV – have written to the Prime Minister urging the Government to rebalance its approach to security by investing in diplomacy, development and climate action alongside defence, warning that an increasing focus on militarisation risks making the world less, not more, secure.

A new YouGov survey finds Reform UK voters are five times more likely than Green supporters to favour nuclear retaliation after a devastating attack on Britain, exposing deep political divisions over deterrence, alliance politics and the protection of civilians.

Drawing on Lebanese government, UN, and humanitarian data, this report analyses the human consequences of Israels attacks on Lebanon from October 2023 to June 2026, documenting escalating civilian harm, mass displacement, repeated attacks on health infrastructure, and persistent uncertainty regarding combatant casualty claims.

A new UN report warns that civilians continue to bear the overwhelming burden of modern warfare, with explosive weapons in populated areas remaining a leading cause of death, injury and destruction, drawing on AOAV data to illustrate the scale of the crisis.

Britain and America are dismantling the systems meant to track and limit civilian deaths in war, signalling a troubling retreat from military accountability and civilian protection.

A newly released Ministry of Defence review has revealed that the UK military lacks a formal system for tracking civilian harm caused by its operations, despite years of warnings from rights groups and conflict monitors. The findings echo longstanding concerns raised by AOAV and others over the opacity of British military casualty assessments and the absence of transparent accountability mechanisms.

A senior policing review into the British military police investigation of alleged unlawful killings by UK special forces in Afghanistan found that delays, weak leadership and inadequate resourcing significantly undermined the inquiry into the claims.

At the United Nations in New York, governments renewed calls for stronger civilian protection from explosive weapons in populated areas, urging that the 2022 Political Declaration move from words to action through concrete military restraint, accountability, and collaboration ahead of the 2025 San José conference.

AOAV reflects on Cardinal Pizzaballa’s call to confront the “mystery of lawlessness” — the moral collapse revealed by Gaza’s devastation and the global normalisation of suffering in an age that confuses power with justice.

Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire may have halted the killing, but its vague promises and absence of accountability risk turning a fragile truce into the prelude to another war.