West Bank Israel admits soldiers used ambulance in fatal refugee camp raid

The ambulance pulls up on a narrow street in the Balata Palestinian refugee camp in Nablus in the West Bank, seemingly no different from the many other emergency vehicles that drive in the area every day.

- Lorenzo Tondo

But then, five armed Israeli soldiers emerge from the vehicle, going on to take part in a raid that results in the death of two civilians, including an 80-year-old woman, in an incident that Israel's army admitted constituted "a serious offence [and] violation of existing orders and procedures".

The Guardian has reviewed video captured by a surveillance camera, and spoken with witnesses and a survivor of the military operation, conducted by the IDF on 19 December 2024 using a hospital vehicle with Palestinian licence plates. It was described by rights groups as a "flagrant violation" of international humanitarian law, which prohibits the use of medical vehicles to carry out military attacks that cause injury or death.

"Israel is no longer trying to hide its war crimes and is acting as though the norms and rules of international law do not apply," said the prominent Israeli rights group B'Tselem, which has investigated the incident.

Security footage from a shop on Al-Suq Road shows Israeli soldiers disembarking from at least two vehicles. Five servicemen descend from an ambulance while at least five others emerge from what appears to be a civilian white van. Shots appear to be fired and pedestrians run for their lives.

An elderly woman, who was talking at the roadside with a neighbour, falls to the ground, wounded. She attempts to raise her hand in a plea for help, but it is said that within seconds she is fatally shot with two more rounds from an assault weapon by the soldiers. Her name was Halimah Saleh Hassan Abu Leil and she was 80.

"I was holding a bag of bread to take home as Halimah stopped me in the street," said Rashida Abu Al Reesh, 73, who can be seen in the clip standing next to the victim. "She was about to invite me to her house. Suddenly there was a car of men who held their rifles up. They started shooting. Poor Halimah fell down instantly, and I ran to hide anywhere until I escaped down the street."