Related Rule
Israel
Practice Relating to Rule 65. Perfidy
Section D. Simulation of surrender
Referring to Israel’s Law of War Booklet (1986), the Report on the Practice of Israel states that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) prohibit “the resort to perfidy to kill, injure or capture an adversary. Therefore, the IDF does not feign intent to surrender.”
Report on the Practice of Israel, 1997, Chapter 2.4, referring to Conduct in the Battlefield in Accordance with the Law of War, Israel Defense Forces, 1986, p. 8.
Israel’s Manual on the Laws of War (1998) gives the following example of perfidy: “It is forbidden to use a white flag for an inappropriate purpose (posing as persons surrendering … with a view to gaining a military advantage).”
Israel, Laws of War in the Battlefield, Manual, Military Advocate General Headquarters, Military School, 1998, p. 56.
Israel’s Manual on the Rules of Warfare (2006) states:
[I]n order to ensure that a combatant party will indeed respect those who have surrendered and will not hurt them, a ban has been imposed on pretending to surrender, i.e., to wave a white flag as deception while continuing to fight.
Israel, Rules of Warfare on the Battlefield, Military Advocate-General’s Corps Command, IDF School of Military Law, Second Edition, 2006, p. 35.
The manual also states:
It is forbidden to make false use of the white flag (pretending to surrender or to be willing to negotiate while the true intention is to obtain a military advantage) so that soldiers from the other side will not fear allowing fighter[s] to live and grant them the status of prisoner-of-war.
Israel, Rules of Warfare on the Battlefield, Military Advocate-General’s Corps Command, IDF School of Military Law, Second Edition, 2006, p. 35.
The manual further states:
In order to protect the “sanctity” of defence under the rules of war, a combatant is forbidden (whether on the losing side or on the side accepting the surrender) to breach the conditions of surrender by resuming combat or by breaching the agreed rules of surrender.
Israel, Rules of Warfare on the Battlefield, Military Advocate-General’s Corps Command, IDF School of Military Law, Second Edition, 2006, p. 39.
In addition, the manual states: “Prohibited methods (such as simulated surrender) must not be used.”
Israel, Rules of Warfare on the Battlefield, Military Advocate-General’s Corps Command, IDF School of Military Law, Second Edition, 2006, p. 49.
The Manual on the Rules of Warfare (2006) is a second edition of the Manual on the Laws of War (1998).
