The Israeli Hospital Raid a War Crime

Israel says it eliminated three terrorists during the raid on January 30th and staved off a major attack which was imminent. But disguising combatants as medical personnel probably breaks international law, which prohibits “perfidy”. What is that crime?

Under international humanitarian law (ihl), which governs how armies may wage war, it is illegal to kill or wound “treacherously”. Specifically, that covers “acts inviting the confidence of an adversary to lead him to believe that he is entitled to…protection”. This is distinct from classical military deception. The classic example of perfidy is feigning surrender. If you wave a white flag and then pull out a gun as the enemy approaches to take you prisoner, that is a straightforward breach of the law.

Perfidy also includes a number of other acts. Soldiers cannot use the uniforms or signs of United Nations peacekeepers, or those of neutral countries. They cannot pretend to be wounded to lull the enemy into approaching or simulate the “distinctive emblem of cultural property”, for instance disguising a command post as a mosque. Air forces can broadcast transponder signals that make their planes look like enemy ones—which enjoy no special protection—but they cannot pretend to be medical transports or send distress signals.

Some in Israel argue that the raid’s location in the West Bank, rather than Gaza, means that it was not an act of war, subject to ihl, but a form of law enforcement. The West Bank is under formal military occupation by Israel. Yet in that case, a separate body of law—International Human Rights Law (ihrl)—still applies. And ihrl does not permit assassination. The latest episode will intensify a raging debate over Israel’s compliance with the law.