'Extrajudicial execution': accountability calls over Israeli hospital raid

Legal experts and rights activists have labelled as “extrajudicial execution” the killing of three Palestinians in a hospital by Israeli soldiers disguised as doctors and nurses.

The soldiers used silenced weapons to kill the three Palestinians - two of them brothers – at the Ibn Sina Hospital in the city of Jenin in the Occupied West Bank early Tuesday morning.

The incident comes amid growing civilian casualties across the occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces have stepped up their onslaught on Palestinians, coinciding with Tel Aviv’s onslaught on the besieged enclave of Gaza.

"The gravity of this appalling act lies in the brazen indifference displayed by Israeli soldiers as they perpetrate egregious crimes within a civilian hospital, fully aware of surveillance cameras documenting their actions," says Ihsan Adel, international lawyer and Chair of Law for Palestine.

CCTV footage available online shows 10 Israeli soldiers dressed as doctors, nurses and civilians, carrying guns, moving through a hospital passage. Post-shooting footage shows bullet holes on a pillow and the blood-splattered walls of the hospital.

The Palestinian foreign ministry called it "a crime against humanity," while several experts TRT World spoke to called for legal accountability for Israel.

Adel adds that the incident underscores a disregard for international law, human rights, and life and points to confidence in impunity and a lack of accountability from the global community.

While describing the incident as "flagrantly" violating the sanctity of medical facilities and the trust placed in them, Adel says it also raises questions about "what horrors unfold away from scrutiny and in other locations?"

The brazen killings came just days after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) decided to proceed with a case of genocide filed by South Africa over Israel’s indiscriminate killing of civilians in besieged Gaza.

Since October 7, Israel’s relentless bombardment and ground offensive in Gaza has killed close to 27,000 Palestinians - largely children and women.

On the latest incident, the Palestinian health ministry said that healthcare facilities hold special protection under international law and called on the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and other institutions to end the occupation's "crimes".

A spokesperson from Palestinian human rights organisation Al-Haq – based in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank – tells TRT World the killing by undercover Israeli forces "constitute a multilayered crime”.

Labelling it an "extrajudicial execution," the spokesperson says it was "a pre-meditated attack, directed towards a pre-identified target, with the express intention to kill", adding that it "amounts to the war crime of willful killing under Article 8(2)(a)(i) of the Rome Statute."

Tareq Shrourou, Director and Principal Lawyer at Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights(LPHR), says his organisation "agrees with the initial legal assessment, based on available information, that the killing of three Palestinians inside Ibn Sina hospital appears to be an extrajudicial execution."

According to Al-Haq’s spokesperson, "feigning civilian status" by inviting the confidence of others and betraying it "is prohibited under international humanitarian law and amounts to perfidy, which constitutes a war crime."

Under international humanitarian law, Shrourou says that hospitals hold a "special protected status.”

Hospitals can "only be targeted if transformed into military facilities, and killing wounded individuals within hospitals, even if combatants, constitutes a serious violation of international humanitarian law and is considered a war crime," says Adel.

Two of the three slain Palestinian men have been identified as brothers Mohammad and Basil Al-Ghazzawi and Mohammad Jalamna.

Basil was reportedly receiving medical treatment at the hospital for injuries he had sustained in an Israeli airstrike attack on October 25 last year. The spokesperson for Al-Haq says due to his injuries, Basil may be “considered hors de combat and thus cannot be targeted under international humanitarian law".

Under international human rights law, lethal force can only be deployed as a strictly necessary last resort if it entails a direct and imminent threat to life or serious injury, says Shrourou.

"The fact that this apparent extrajudicial execution took place in a protected medical unit is a vivid demonstration of the extent to which Israel's military authorities in occupied Palestinian territory act with complete impunity," he says.

Adel calls it a "heinous act by Israeli forces," insisting it is indicative of a pervasive sense of impunity, corroborated by past occurrences.

He also draws comparisons to previous "violations" of the sanctity of hospitals in Gaza in recent months, where Israel has launched a scorched-earth campaign.

"It casts a chilling shadow over injured individuals seeking medical aid in light of such atrocities," he adds.

Tensions in the occupied West Bank have heightened since October 7, when Hamas launched an unprecedented cross-border attack on Israel.

Over 380 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank since October 7.

As part of a wider trend, the Al-Haq spokesperson says Israeli forces have increased their large-scale, aggressive, and lengthy military attacks and raids across Palestinian cities, towns, villages, and refugee camps.

"These attacks are characterised by the overwhelming deployment of military force, including snipers; an array of vehicles, notably bulldozers; and recourse to airstrikes," says the spokesperson.

Al-Haq also says there have been more widespread "attacks" against medical personnel in the West Bank that include routine stopping and blocking of ambulances from reaching hospitals.

Palestinian Health Minister Mai Alkaila has called on the UN and international human rights groups to end Israel's aggressions and to safeguard health institutions in Gaza and the West Bank.

"We agree with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (to) call on Israeli authorities to immediately end the unlawful killing of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, which the Office has increasingly documented since October 7, 2023, and to provide legal accountability for all unlawful use of force," says Shrourou.

Such incidents continue to occur amid what Al-Haq says is the international community's failure to hold Israeli authorities accountable for "their crimes and violations and end their long-enjoyed impunity".

Adel says immediate and unequivocal condemnation from the international community is imperative to highlight the gravity of this violation.

"Support for the International Criminal Court's investigation into crimes in Palestine is crucial, alongside concrete measures for accountability, including judicial proceedings through universal jurisdiction or imposition of sanctions," he says.

The Al-Haq spokesperson says alleged dual-national Israeli perpetrators must also be held accountable under their national jurisdictions.

Concerted efforts are needed to compel Israel to respect medical facilities and prevent such incidents from recurring, says Adel, in order to safeguard the rights of civilians, patients, and medical personnel.

"This reprehensible regression demands resolute rejection from the global community," he says.