Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This book critically examines the absence of explicit provisions in International Humanitarian Law addressing the deaths of suicide attackers. Although International Humanitarian Law regulates various aspects of warfare, it remains silent on suicide attacks, which involve unique aspects of intentionality regarding the attacker’s death, distinguishing them from most combatant casualties. This silence, the book argues, reflects underlying biases and rigid binaries within IHL that struggle to accommodate complex narratives of agency surrounding the deaths of suicide attackers across different cultural contexts. To explore these dimensions, the book juxtaposes International Humanitarian Law principles with cultural narratives surrounding three distinct cases: the Kamikaze pilots of World War II, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’s female suicide attackers in the Sri Lankan non-International Armed Conflict, and martyrdom operations conducted by jihadist non-State armed groups. By analyzing the nuanced constructions of agency in these contexts, the book reveals how cultural depictions of suicide attackers challenge International Humanitarian Law’s traditional victim–perpetrator binary. These narratives present suicide attackers not as passive instruments of violence, but as individuals whose actions are laden with cultural and collective meanings that complicate the straightforward application of International Humanitarian Law categories. Ultimately, this book seeks to unsettle International Humanitarian Law’s approach to combatant agency and proposes alternative perspectives that embrace culturally diverse interpretations of agency in warfare. Through its exploration, the book offers a critical framework for engaging with pluralistic understandings of intentionality and agency, urging a more inclusive, culturally sensitive approach within International Humanitarian Law.</jats:p>