US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made a statement during a news briefing about the US-Israeli war with Iran that he said there would be "no quarter" for the enemy. The Oxford English Dictionary defines "quarter" as slang for the rank of quartermaster, a term that can also refer to lodging for soldiers or the act of housing troops. Since the early 1600s, “quarter” has also been used for mercy and sparing the life of an adversary who surrenders in battle. The phrase is widely understood to mean taking no prisoners, or rejecting an opponent’s surrender and killing them instead. However, this practice was eventually prohibited under military and international law. The Hague Conventions also prohibit militaries from declaring “no quarter” and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court classifies it as a war crime.