Explainer: What does ‘No Quarter’ mean? Premium

Explore the implications of "no quarter" in warfare, its legal prohibitions, and recent controversial remarks by U.S. officials.

The phrase “no quarter” has come under scrutiny after remarks by Pete Hegseth, the United States Secretary of Defence, who said during a Pentagon briefing that the United States would continue military operations with “no quarter, no mercy for our enemies” while referring to strikes against Iran.

The statement came amid escalating tensions following the reported sinking of the Iranian naval vessel IRIS Dena by a United States Navy submarine on March 4, in which more than 80 sailors were reported killed.

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In the context of armed conflict, “no quarter” refers to refusing to spare enemy combatants even if they surrender or are incapable of fighting.

According to Colonel Dr. Divakaran Padma Kumar Pillay (Retd.), Research Fellow at MP-IDSA, who has also served as military advisor to the after-action review in West Asia, said that in the context of armed conflict, “no quarter” refers to the order or intent to refuse the surrender of an enemy and to ensure there are no survivors. It effectively means that combatants who are hors de combat (out of the fight due to injury, shipwreck, or surrender) will be killed rather than taken prisoner.

He further said that the prohibition against declaring “no quarter” is one of the oldest and most settled rules of war, codified in several major treaties: The Hague Regulations (1907): Article 23(d) explicitly forbids declaring that no quarter will be given.