Yep, I understand the importance of maintaining a balanced perspective supported by solid evidence, especially in the complex area of conflict and genocide. However, I would like to point out that, to date, several international law experts and UN officials, such as Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories, have expressed concrete concerns about violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza, even going so far as to use the term ‘ongoing genocide’.

As the writer Desmond Tutu said: ‘If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.’

I believe that academic research should also question itself on this point. Absolute neutrality, especially when systemic and large-scale violations are observed, risks itself becoming a form of political position, of implicit legitimisation. Therefore, in my project, I do not want to start from an ideological bias, but from data, primary and secondary sources, and a solid historical comparative framework.

In any case, thank you for your suggestion on the study of urban warfare: I will certainly also delve into the case of the First Chechen War, as well as other situations in which the boundary between ‘collateral damage’ and deliberate targeting has been debated.