On october 9, On Wednesday, Israeli special forces assassinated four Palestinian young men, and injured one, after targeting their vehicle in the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

Perfidy to lead an extrajudicial execution

Media sources said that an undercover Israeli unit (Musta’ribeen) infiltrated the eastern area of Nablus city, on Wednesday afternoon, and fired many live rounds at a vehicle, executing all four men inside.The Arab 48 News website quoted witnesses who said that “the sounds of heavy gunfire were heard near the eastern market in Nablus, and then soldiers were seen who were apparently riding in a civilian vehicle and wearing civilian clothes, firing at a Palestinian civilian vehicle from all sides.”

The army sent several military reinforcements to Nablus city from Jerusalem Street, to facilitate the special forces’ withdrawal from Faisal Street.

**Perfidy **is specifically prohibited under the 1977 Protocol I Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, which states 1. It is prohibited to kill, injure or capture an adversary by resort to perfidy. Acts inviting the confidence of an adversary to lead him to believe that he is entitled to, or is obliged to accord, protection under the rules of international law applicable in armed conflict, with intent to betray that confidence, shall constitute perfidy. The following acts are examples of perfidy: (...) (c) The feigning of civilian, non-combatant status.

“Perfidy involves the killing or injury of an adversary in a manner that first invites but then betrays their confidence in a protection offered by the law of armed conflict,” says Sari. “In the present case, feigning to be medical personnel or civilians, both of whom enjoy protections under the law [would be perfidious].”

Israel is one of the few countries (and the U.S. is another) that has not ratified Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, a 1977 amendment that specifically bans perfidy. However, perfidy is also illegal under customary international law. Sari points out that the Israeli Supreme Court has accepted that Israel is bound by customary international law.

Sources : 1, 2

Hamas statement

It quoted the Islamic Resistance movement Hamas, who called the Israeli assassination operation, a “heinous Zionist crime added to the occupation’s record of terrorism,” affirming that “the resistance in Nablus and all the governorates of the West Bank will remain unbreakable” despite “the brutality of the occupation.”

Casualties :

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the slain men as

• Issam Mohammad Suleiman Salaj, 30
• Abdul Halim Mohammad Nasser, 43
• Salim Izz al-Din Mahmoud Abu Saada, 40
• Naim Mohammad Raji Abdul Hadi, 32.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said their ambulance crews transported the bodies of the slain men to the Rafidia Governmental Hospital in Nablus, in addition to a young man who sustained injuries to the head and chest as a result of shrapnel from live rounds.