Australia and the World Past and Present

Cities are a feature of modern societies.

It is incredibly difficult to wage a war in an urban environment.

One of the reasons that this is the case is because it is very hard to separate combatants and civilians.

And it is also hard to differentiate between combatants and civilians if combatants dress as civilians.

Combatants may hide among civilians on purpose, making it difficult to determine who is who.

During the Bosnian War, Sarajevo witnessed sustained street fighting, sniping and shelling in an urban setting.

In the Battle of Mogadishu (Somalia, 1993), U.S. forces clashed with Somali militias in the capital.

During the Battle of Grozny (Chechnya, 1994-1995 and 1999-2000) Russian forces fought Chechen separatists. Much of the city was destroyed. Chechnya had been an autonomous republic within the USSR. Unlike Ukraine or Georgia, it had not been an independent republic. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, separatists in Chechnya declared independence. This was something that Russia would never recognise – leading to the two Chechen Wars.

Although Grozny is a city, it is far removed from the center of Russian power – over 1000 miles from Moscow.

In recent times, Iraq has been a site of significant urban warfare.

We can point to the First Battle of Fallujah in 2004. There, U.S. forces fought insurgents for control of this Iraqi city. It was one of the most intense instances of modern urban combat.

In April of that year there were around 800 total reported deaths in Fallujah (according to iraqibodycount.org), with civilian deaths constituting around 69% of the total. iraqibodycount.org compiles reports from media, hospitals, morgues, NGO reports and the like. They maintain a publicly accessible database. It is widely cited by researchers and its figures are often treated as lower limit as many deaths in war zones go unreported.

The urban battles listed here are examples from Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

All took place in weak states or at times when the state was breaking down and undergoing significant change.

The Battle of Sarajevo occurred amid the fallout resulting from the balkanisation of Yugoslavia. While the Battle of Mogadishu didn’t lead the fragmentation of the Somali territorial borders, it did point to a battle for control and power within the state. The Battle in Grozny followed in the wake of the fall of the Soviet Union. Chechen separatists wanted to follow the example of many of the independent republics that gained their independence. Meanwhile, the Russian state fought hard to prevent this from happening. The fall of Saddam Hussein in Iraq created a power vacuum that was at first filled by ISIS and then to U.S. intervention and the urban warfare that we saw there.

As time has gone on, the ability of individuals to get information out of war zones to a broader public has become easier and easier – especially with the rise of social media. With only a smartphone, one can call from war zones, get messages out, take photos and videos and document events.

Since the war in Gaza began, Israel has put in place a blockade of the Gaza Strip. This has made it difficult to ascertain exactly what is happening there. But not impossible. Israel generally does not allow international journalists to enter the Strip. Still, some journalists have been reporting from Gaza. These tend to be local journalists who get information out to foreign news agencies. A recent UN report has found that Israel has deliberately targeted journalists in the conflict.¹

Preventing foreign journalists from entering Gaza creates its own story and the impression that there are things that Israel wishes to hide, even if that is not the case.

Technology continues to evolve and with it, the ability to capture information – even if it is limited. Satellite imagery can help to gain an understanding of conditions on the ground. It can show the effect of bombardments and and it can show population movements.

In past conflicts around the world, it was not uncommon for warfare to take place in areas far away from cities. Guerrilla fighters often sought out safety in borderlands, on the margins of the state. They sought the cover that jungles and the mountains could provide them. Sometimes there would be opportunities for civilians to distance themselves from combatants. But even here it could be difficult to totally escape from the impact of combatants. This was especially the case when guerillas would lean on those living in nearby towns or villages for food or other support. The experience of civilians in Peru during the Sendero Luminoso inurgency or in northern Uganda under the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) comes to mind. Civilians would be trapped between guerillas and national armies. They would be suspected by the guerillas of colluding with the government while the national army would suspect them of supporting the rebels. They were caught between a rock and a hard place and would often face reprisals from either or both groups.

In Gaza, there is no frontier border area for Hamas to base their operations from. The setting is completely urban. So the ability for civilians to get themselves out of the way of the battle between Hamas and the IDF is almost nil.

1. Human Rights Council, Sixtieth session, Legal analysis of the conduct of Israel in Gaza pursuant to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Conference room paper of the Independent International Commission of inquiry of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, 16 September 2025, p. 11 ↩︎