The Israeli military has admitted that its soldiers hid in an ambulance in order to infiltrate and raid a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank — a move one UN expert has described as a “flagrant violation” of international humanitarian law.

Last month, armed Israeli soldiers drove into the Balata refugee camp in Nablus in an ambulance. Soldiers stormed the camp, killing two Palestinians, including an 80-year-old woman, Palestinian sources reported. Three others were wounded by gunfire. The incident was caught on camera and circulated online this week.

After the video emerged, the Israeli military confirmed that Israeli soldiers used the ambulance to enter the camp and claimed to be investigating the incident, even as it maintained in a statement that the army “acts in accordance with international law.”

Human rights expert Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, said that the incident is a war crime.

“Misusing the protected status of medical vehicles and personnel is a flagrant violation of the Geneva Conventions and may constitute a crime of perfidy,” said Albanese. “By systemically disregarding IHL, Israel has rendered the legal frameworks meant to protect civilians, completely meaningless.”

Perfidy is defined under international law as committing an attack or military act while........

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