text: Chapter 7
  existence of the armed conflict. These are not limited to matters regarding exchanges of POWs and can
  include, for example, postal communication or trade in certain goods or commodities.
  7-63. Parties to a cartel are honor bound to observe its provisions with the most scrupulous care. A party
  may void a cartel upon definite proof that the other party has violated it intentionally in an important particular
  (see DOD Law of War Manual, 12.7).
  OTHER SPECIAL AGREEMENTS
  7-64. The 1949 Geneva Conventions contemplate the conclusion and implementation of special agreements
  between opposing parties to an armed conflict (see DOD Law of War Manual, 12.1.2.1). These include, but
  are not limited to, appointment of protecting powers (art. 10 common to GWS, GWS (Sea), and GPW; GC
  art. 11), repatriation of wounded or sick POWs or retained personnel (GPW art. 109), and agreements as to
  the location of hospital zones and localities (GWS art. 23). Other special agreements may be concluded on
  an ad hoc basis (art. 6 common to GWS, GWS (Sea), and GPW; GC art. 7).
  ARMISTICE
  7-65. An armistice is an agreed upon cessation of active hostilities between opposing forces for a period
  agreed upon by the belligerent parties.
  7-66. An armistice agreement must be concluded by authorities who are competent to agree to and enforce
  its terms. Armistices that include more substantive and expansive terms must be concluded by more senior
  authorities. If the armistice contains political terms, it must be made under authorization from the government
  concerned or subject to approval by them (see DOD Law of War Manual, 12.11.2). An armistice is not a
  partial or a temporary peace; it is only the suspension of military operations to the extent agreed upon by the
  parties to the conflict (HR art. 36). War, as a legal state of hostilities between the parties, may continue,
  despite the conclusion of an armistice agreement. In certain instances, for example the Korean War, armistice
  agreements may be in place for a long time.
  7-67. An armistice agreement may arrange for a variety of humanitarian activities, such as the recovery of
  wounded or shipwrecked from the battlefield (land or sea) or the exchange of POWs.
  7-68. Hostilities need not cease during the negotiation of an armistice.
  7-69. The existence of an armistice agreement is not a reason to relax either the vigilance or readiness of
  forces, or to expose positions to the enemy (see DOD Law of War Manual, 12.11.4.4).
  TYPES OF ARMISTICE
  7-70. An armistice may be general or local. A general armistice suspends military operations between the
  belligerents everywhere. A local armistice only suspends military operations between certain fractions of the
  belligerent armies and within a fixed area (HR art. 37). In practice, a local armistice can refer to a partial
  armistice or a suspension of arms with the primary distinction between the two being the size of the units
  involved as discussed in paragraphs 7-72 to 7-76.
  7-71. Other terms have been and may be used for an armistice, to include truce, local truce, ceasefire,
  cessation of hostilities, and suspension of arms. Other terms may also be used in other languages. Although
  a tacit or implied suspension of fighting may precede an armistice, any form of armistice, whether a truce,
  local truce, suspension of arms, requires agreement between competent authorities. Armistice can be used in
  a general sense to encompass each of these terms.
  General
  7-72. A general armistice suspends all (ground, naval, and air) operations between opposing forces
  throughout the theater of operations. It often is of a combined political and military character. It usually
  precedes negotiations for peace. Due to its political importance, a general armistice usually is agreed to at
  the national or diplomatic level, with implementation of the agreed terms by military commanders, such as
  by the relevant combatant commander.