During the Civil War, the Haganah operatives had been cautioned against harming women and children but the Irgun and Lehi did not observe this distinction, while "Palestinian Arab militias often deliberately targeted civilians." Due to the fact the British Mandate was not yet over, neither side could set up regular Prisoner of War camps and therefore take prisoners. During the Arab-Israeli War, the fighting armies were more or less disciplined and "the killings of civilians and prisoners of war almost stopped, except for the series of atrocities committed by the IDF forces".