CCTV footage reveals shocking moment 80-year-old is shot in IDF raid as UN expert says it could be ‘war crime’
On 19 December, 80-year-old Palestinian grandmother Halima Abu Leil was shot in an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) raid on her neighbourhood in Balata refugee camp in Nablus, West Bank.
Two days later, Halima’s children told Sky News their mother was shot six times by Israeli special forces on her way to buy groceries. She died soon after.
Warning this piece includes an image from CCTV of the moment Halima Abu Leil was shot.
“They could see she is an elderly lady but they shot her six times – in her leg, in her chest. When she was first shot in her legs, she knelt on the ground,” her daughter said.
Halima’s daughter
Newly released grainy CCTV footage shows the moment she was shot and reveals that a van marked as an ambulance was used during the surprise IDF raid.
Halima Abu Leil’s family want the footage to be seen.
Sky News’ Data & Forensics unit has analysed the CCTV and geolocated the street where the video was filmed. It is the exact location Halima’s son told us she “fell to her knees” as she was shot.
READ MORE: Grandmother shot six times by IDF during raid, son says
In the video, we see Halima turn into the street.
Three men are also walking down the street. There is no visible contact between them and Halima. Based on our analysis of their silhouettes, the figure in the middle appears to be holding a weapon. They are likely to be neighbourhood militants.
The three men veer to the right, moving into a sunny area. One takes a seat on some stairs, while the other two stand. They join someone sitting there already.
A few yards away, Halima stops in the middle of the street to speak to another woman with a shopping trolley.
An ambulance pulls into vision, separating the two women, and drives slowly down the street. A white van pulls in behind the medical vehicle.
A few moments later, the passenger door of the white van opens and a faint cloud of smoke is visible, suggesting that a gunshot is fired.
This is the moment Halima falls to her knees.
The men, some of them armed, scatter to the right and left into alleyways along with other people in the street.
A detailed analysis of the footage suggests that visible clouds of smoke on the walls are the result of multiple shots. The footage and imagery we gathered from the site of the killing shows bullet holes in the building next to where Halima was standing.
The exact location Halima Abu Leil was shot in Balata Refugee Camp
The woman she was speaking to moments earlier takes cover in a doorway.
At the same time, figures who appear to be Israeli military forces exit the ambulance in the foreground. They are equipped with helmets, backpacks, rifles, and other gear.
Armed figures can also be seen leaving the white van in the background. They are seen aiming their weapons down the street.
Halima appears to get hit again and collapses to the floor. The men likely to be neighbourhood militants are not visibly present in the street when this happens.
At the time of our previous report, the IDF said they had conducted “counterterrorism activity” in Balata camp the morning Halima was killed.
We approached the IDF about the CCTV footage and the use of a medical vehicle to conduct their operation.
This was its response: “The IDF is committed to and operates in accordance with international law. The mentioned incident is under review. The review will examine the use of the vehicle shown in the video and the claims of harm to uninvolved individuals during the exchange of fire between the terrorists and our forces.”
The use of a marked medical vehicle for a security operation could be a contravention of the Geneva Convention and a war crime – as well as Halima’s killing.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on occupied Palestinian territory Francesca Albanese watched the CCTV video and told Sky News she was shocked but not surprised.
She says: “When I look at the footage, what emerges prima facie is that there were no precautions taken – within these operations whose legality is debatable – to avoid or spare civilian life. No principle of proportionality because there was wildfire directed at the identified target and ultimately no respect for the principle of distinction.
“So this was a murder in cold blood and could be a war crime as an extrajudicial killing.”
According to the United Nations Office of Human Rights in occupied Palestinian territory (OHCHR oPt), Israeli security forces and settlers have killed at least 813 mostly unarmed Palestinians, including 15 women and 177 children, since 7 October 2023.
In a statement to Sky News regarding Halima’s killing, the OHCHR oPT said: “Any deliberate killing by Israeli security forces of Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank who do not pose an imminent threat to life is unlawful under international human rights law and a war crime in the context of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territory.
“This incident must be investigated independently, effectively, thoroughly, and transparently. If there is evidence of violations of the applicable law enforcement standards, those responsible must be held to account.”
Sophie Alexander, international affairs producer, and Michelle Inez Simon, visual investigations producer, contributed reporting.
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
The United States “doesn’t have high expectations” for negotiations in Turkey between Russia and Ukraine to end the war, America’s top diplomat has admitted.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said he did not think there would be a “breakthrough” in discussions until Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin meet to discuss it directly.
Russia and Ukraine are preparing to hold their first direct peace talks in three years, but the negotiations will take place in the aftermath of Mr Putin declining Volodymyr Zelenskyy‘s offer of an in-person meeting.
It came after Mr Putin proposed direct negotiations with Ukraine over the war “without any preconditions” after the “coalition of the willing” countries threatened Russia with fresh sanctions if it failed to take part in a 30-day ceasefire beginning on Monday. In response Mr Zelenskyy had called on Mr Putin to meet him in Istanbul.
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with senior officials. PIc: Reuters
Ukraine war latest: Trump teases ‘destination unknown’
The Ukrainian president said he was sending a team headed by his defence minister, from the Turkish capital Ankara to Istanbul, to meet the Ukrainian delegation, though he said Moscow’s team did not include “anyone who actually makes decisions”.
Mr Zelenskyy accused Moscow of not taking efforts to end the conflict seriously by sending a low-level negotiating team he described as “a theatre prop”.
Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who is heading Moscow’s delegation, said: “The task of these direct negotiations with Ukraine is to establish long-term peace sooner or later by eliminating the root causes of this conflict.”
He later said he expected Ukraine’s representatives to turn up for the beginning of discussions on Friday morning.
Marco Rubio. Pic: Reuters
Mr Rubio said he will meet Ukraine’s delegation on Friday, adding: “It’s my assessment that I don’t think we’re going to have a breakthrough here until the president [Mr Trump] and President Putin interact directly on this topic.”
The team sent by Russia “does not indicate a breakthrough”, he said, before going on to say: “I hope tomorrow the news says they’ve agreed a ceasefire. But it’s not my assessment.”
He was echoing remarks made by Mr Trump earlier in the day, when he said: “Nothing’s going to happen until Putin and I get together.”
Asked if any plans were under way for a meeting between the US and Russian leaders, Mr Rubio said Mr Trump was going to make a decision once his trip to the Middle East finishes.
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Tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed on both sides in the war since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, along with more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the UN.
Russian forces are preparing for a fresh military offensive, Ukrainian government and Western military analysts have warned.
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Sir Keir Starmer accused Mr Putin of “standing in the way of peace”, with the prime minister saying: “There was only one country that started this conflict – that was Russia. That was Putin. There’s only one country now standing in the way of peace – that is Russia, that is Putin.”
A top Iranian official has said the country is prepared to make a number of concessions related to its nuclear programme, in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
It comes as Donald Trump, during his tour of the Middle East, urged Qatar to wield its influence over Iran to persuade it to give up its nuclear programme.
Ali Shamkhani, a top political, military and nuclear adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, spoke to Sky News’ US partner NBC News.
Ali Shamkhani pictured in 2023.
Pic: Reuters
He said Tehran was willing to commit to never making nuclear weapons again, getting rid of its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, which can be weaponised, agree to only enrich uranium to the lower levels needed for civilian use and allow international inspectors to supervise the process.
This was in exchange for the prospect of the immediate lifting of all economic sanctions on the country.
Asked if Iran would sign an agreement today if those conditions were met, Mr Shamkhani told NBC: “Yes.”
His comments are the clearest public indication of what Iran hopes to get out of a deal and their willingness to do one.
“It’s still possible. If the Americans act as they say, for sure we can have better relations,” Mr Shamkhani added.
However, he expressed frustration at continued threats from the US president, describing them as “all barbed wire” and no olive branch.
Similarly, he warned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might try to derail the deal.
Trump goes to the Middle East
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Trump’s second day in the Middle East
Elsewhere, on the second of three stops on his tour of the Middle East, Mr Trump appealed to Qatar for help in the process.
He urged the country to use its influence over Iran to persuade its leadership to reach a deal with the US and dial back its rapidly advancing nuclear programme.
Mr Trump made the comments during a state dinner.
He said: “I hope you can help me with the Iran situation.
“It’s a perilous situation, and we want to do the right thing.”
Donald Trump listens as Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani (not pictured) speaks at a state dinner.
Pic: Reuters
Over the years, Qatar has played the role of intermediary between the US and Iran and its proxies – including talks with Hamas as its 19-month war with Israel grinds on.
This comes after Mr Trump told a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this week that he wants “to make a deal”.
However, he said that as part of any agreement, Iran must end its support of proxy groups throughout the Middle East.
A nuclear Iran
Mr Trump has always said Iran could not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon.
While Iran has always denied doing so, the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has warned that Tehran has enough enriched uranium close to weapons-grade quality for nearly six bombs.
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Trump 100 breaks down the president and Iran
The US and Iran reached a nuclear deal in 2015, under Barack Obama, in which Iran agreed to drastically reduce its stockpile of uranium and limit enriching up to 3.67%.
But Mr Trump scrapped that deal in his first term.
Today, Iran enriches up to 60%, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels.
Washington and Tehran have engaged in four rounds of talks since early April.
Guests used furniture as an “improvised ladder” to try to escape after the Bayesian superyacht capsized last year, a new safety report has said.
The interim report by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) contains the fullest account yet of how the superyacht capsized and the last-ditch efforts of those on board to get out.
It also found that the boat may have been vulnerable to high winds, with gusts exceeding 70 knots (80.05mph) on the day of the incident.
These “vulnerabilities” were said to be “unknown to either the owner or the crew of Bayesian” as they were not included in the stability information book carried on board.
The boat was owned by British tech tycoon Mike Lynch.
He was among seven people – including his 18-year-old daughter Hannah – who died when it sank on 19 August last year, off the coast of Sicily during a storm.
Work is now underway to recover the ship, although progress has been hampered after a diver recently died during salvage efforts.
MAIB principal investigator Simon Graves previously said it’s expected to be lifted and brought to shore by the end of May.
Chaos on board
The report, published Thursday, detailed the events of 18 and 19 August last year, how the Bayesian and its crew acted as a storm swept in and began tilting the boat overnight.
After the crew was woken up by the strong winds and waves, the captain prepared to manoeuvre the ship, the report said.
But winds were said to have suddenly spiked around 4.06am, causing the boat to “violently” tip 90 degrees in less than 15 seconds.
Mike and Hannah Lynch
“People, furniture and loose items fell across the deck,” the report said, adding that in the carnage that followed, at least five people, including Mr Lynch and the captain, were injured.
One of the crew members, who had been keeping a lookout when the storm struck, was tossed overboard into the sea.
After much of the furniture was thrown across the deck and uprooted from the rooms, two of the guests were forced to use “drawers as an improvised ladder” to escape one room.
Others similarly climbed up the walls to get out as water began flooding in over the rails, and entering the inside of the ship.
Across the capsized vessel, the report explained how various groups scrambled to escape.
The Bayesian superyacht.
Pic: Perini Navi
At the port forward wheelhouse door, one of the deckhands who had been on the lookout that night helped lift two stewards onto the upper deck.
Not seeing anyone else inside, they jumped into the sea, and the door was seemingly shut behind them.
According to the report, with Bayesian now sinking, a number of guests and crew found themselves trapped in an air pocket by the same door.
It was only with the help of an injured guest on the outside that they were able to open the door and escape.
Elsewhere, the chief officer had found Mr Lynch and “pushed [him] through cascading water” to get him to the captain.
The pair managed to evacuate two other guests this way.
Read more:
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Salvage operations for the Bayesian are expected to continue this month. Pic: AP
However, amid the rough weather, the chief officer was swept to the back of the saloon.
The report details his precarious escape, jumping into the water, diving down and opening the sliding doors in the room to be able to swim free of the ship.
The report said the captain organised the “abandonment” of the ship, and as they floated there, some guests had to use cushions as improvised life rafts.
Inquest proceedings in the UK are looking at the deaths of Mr Lynch and his daughter, as well as Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy, who were all British nationals.
The others who died in the sinking were US lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo, and Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, who was working as a chef on the vessel.
Fifteen people, including Mr Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares, were rescued.
The fatal boat trip was a celebration of Mr Lynch’s acquittal in a US trial after he was accused of a massive fraud over the sale of Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.
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