Yes, we can.
What is a 'war zone'? Never mind the rhetorical aspect of the words. A 'war zone' is an area where combat occurs. In the old days, we had armies literally arrayed themselves in front of each other and proceed to charge, and later shoot, at each other. Today, we have something call 'urban warfare'. But that begs the question, how did that kind of warfare or 'war zone' got started? It means one side decided to chose a city or an urban area to fortify themselves, thereby compelling the other side to engage in the same environment. So now, whether civilians like it or not, they were dragged into combat. Yes, we know the civilians, or non-combatants, have nothing to do with the fighting, but someone has to FIRST using civilian environment for combat. This justification is one that no formal military want to make but the moment one side chose to use civilian areas to conduct warfare, the justification is automatically engaged.
