Disguised Israeli forces raid West Bank hospital; some experts say it violates law

Security cameras recorded Israeli commandos disguised as patients, doctors and nurses, guns drawn, raiding a hospital in the northern West Bank on Monday, Jan. 30. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the counterterrorism operation killed three Palestinian militants on Tuesday.

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Two of the men killed were identified to be members of the Islamic Jihad militant group. The third man was allegedly tied to a Hamas cell, and the IDF claims he was planning “imminent” terror attacks motivated by the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, according to The Times of Israel.

The IDF stated that the men were using the Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin as a hideout.

However, the New York Times reports that questions are now being raised over whether Israeli commandos acted in accordance with international law, which requires special protection for hospitals during times of war. Those protections would end if the facilities were used for military purposes, according to Eliav Lieblich, an expert on international law at Tel Aviv University.

In the security video released on Monday, one member of the Israeli forces is reportedly with a wheelchair, while two others are lugging a baby carrier. Several individuals can be seen in nurse scrubs, and another is dressed as a doctor.

Under the Geneva Convention, patients and doctors are given “protected status.”

Initially, the IDF said in a release that its agency was part of the raid. However, when pressed for more details, the IDF clarified to ABC News that its agency was not “physically” part of the forces that assisted in the mission. The forces directly involved in the operation were the Israeli Security Agency and the Israeli Police.

The IDF did not indicate whether or not disguises were worn by Israeli forces before entry into the hospital. However, while the unit’s means of entry into the hospital is still unknown, another violation of international law may have occurred, according to a professor of international law at the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, Tom Dannenbaum.

Dannenbaum told ABC News that it is illegal to attack enemies who have been rendered incapacitated by wounds or sickness. The professor said one of the Palestinian men killed had been receiving treatment at the hospital and was paralyzed. The IDF denied Dannenbaum’s claim that the man was paralyzed.

Niji Nazzal, the hospital’s medical director, told Reuters that the three Palestinian men were killed execution style as they slept, shot in the head with silenced pistols. The IDF confirmed the use of suppressors but did not elaborate on how the killings were done.

The IDF has long claimed that hospitals in Gaza have been used by Hamas as command centers for military operations. In November, CNN traveled with the IDF, as soldiers showed the news crew an exposed tunnel shaft found at the site of Al Shifa Hospital. The Israeli military claimed the tunnel led to a Hamas militant control center.

In total, around a dozen undercover individuals were involved in the Israeli counterterrorism operation. The IDF said all of the members involved in the raid were left unscathed, and the mission took only 10 minutes, according to the Times of Israel.

The International Criminal Court is in charge of determining if Israeli forces disguised as patients, doctors and nurses violates international law. However, Israel is not a member of the ICC, and does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction.