The Israeli military unit that killed an 80-year-old Palestinian civilian during a raid in the West Bank may have committed a war crime, according to UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese in an interview with Sky News.
Halima Abu Leil, a 80-year-old woman, was shot six times while on her way to make a purchase on December 19, as a “counter-terrorism operation” was underway in the Balata refugee camp near Nablus. She died shortly after.
“If I look at the footage, what is immediately apparent is that no precautions were taken – within these operations, whose legitimacy is questionable – to spare or protect the lives of civilians. No principle of proportionality, because unbridled fire was directed at a clearly identified target, and ultimately no respect for the principle of distinction” Albanese said, referring to the footage.
“It was a cold-blooded murder, and could be, as an extrajudicial killing, a war crime” she added.
Sky News obtained footage from a surveillance camera and analyzed it to determine what happened. The footage shows the Israeli military using a vehicle marked as a medical ambulance, a possible violation of the Geneva Conventions.
“One video captures the moment when Israeli special forces use a marked medical ambulance as a cover to infiltrate the Balata camp in Nablus. The footage shows the moment when they opened fire and brutally killed the 80-year-old Palestinian senior, Halima Abu Liel” the article states.
“Is the use of medical ambulances for military operations not a war crime – or is there an exception for Israel?”
The Abu Leil family told Sky News they want the video to be seen, pointing out that the elderly woman was shot six times, including in her leg and chest, after the first shot, leaving her lying on the ground.
An analysis of the video by Sky News suggests that the Israeli unit targeted a group of Palestinian men, possibly armed, who had taken cover in a building when Abu Leil was shot.
“The Israeli military is bound by international law and acts in accordance with it. The incident will be investigated” the Israeli military said in a statement to Sky News, adding that the investigation will examine the use of the vehicle shown in the video, as well as claims that it was damaged during the exchange of fire between the terrorists and their troops, resulting in harm to non-combatants.
Both the use of a marked medical vehicle for a security operation and the shooting of Abu Leil could be considered war crimes.
Israel declared war on the Hamas in the Gaza Strip after the October 7, 2023, attack, and has since carried out a military offensive against the enclave, which has left more than half of the population homeless. According to the UN Human Rights Office, Israeli security forces and settlers have killed 813 “mainly unarmed” Palestinians in the West Bank, including 15 women and 177 children, since the military operation began.
The office told Sky News: “Every intentional killing of Palestinians, who do not pose an immediate threat to life, by Israeli security forces in the occupied West Bank is in violation of international human rights law and, in the context of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, a war crime.