List of Israeli assassinations

The following is a list of alleged and confirmed assassinations reported to have been conducted by the State of Israel. It includes attempts on notable persons who were reported to have been specifically targeted by the various Israeli security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies.

According to Eyal Weizman, 'targeted assassinations have become the most significant and frequent form of Israeli military attack', and serve not only to contain terror but as a 'political tool' to control Palestinian territories Israel has otherwise withdrawn from. In response to protests over the number of civilians killed in targeting operations, and the refusal of a number of pilots to engage in such missions in 2003, Israel set up groups to minimize collateral damage in 2003 to establish acceptable levels of damage to bystanders. In 2006 'focused lethality munitions', missiles with intense but highly localized explosive were introduced to this end, and in November a legal committee was set up to rule on assassinations.

There is no clear definition of "Targeted killing" under international law. The Supreme Court of Israel, in response to a suit on the practice, mainly regarded actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, ruled on 14 December 2006 that such actions took place in an 'international armed conflict' but that the "terrorists", as civilians, lacked combatant status under international law. Yet they were, in the court's view, civilians participating directly in hostilities, which would mean they lose their immunity. It also ruled, following a precedent set forth by the European Court of Human Rights in its McCann and Others v. the United Kingdom judgement, that a 'law of proportionality', balancing military necessity with humanity, must apply. Assassination were permitted if ('strong and persuasive information' concerning the target's identity existed; if the mission served to curtail terror; and if other techniques, such as attempting to arrest the target, would gravely endanger soldiers' lives.

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