Israeli security forces disguised as doctors and patients raided a hospital in the occupied West Bank early Tuesday and killed three Palestinian militants, according to a video of the raid and statements by the Palestinian Health Ministry, the Israel Defense Forces and Palestinian militant groups.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said “occupation forces” raided the Ibn Sina Hospital in the West Bank town of Jenin early Tuesday and fatally shot three young men in the hospital’s wards. The statement, which did not identify the men, called the raid a “crime” and one of “dozens” carried out by Israel against medical facilities in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
An IDF statement said the raid targeted militants it described as “hiding” in the hospital, including Mohammed Jalamneh, a member of the Hamas militant group. The statement said Jalamneh, along with two other militants, brothers Mohamed and Basil Ghazawi, were “neutralized” during the operation.
Surveillance footage shows undercover Israeli forces conducting a raid at Ibn Sina Specialized Hospital in Jenin, in the West Bank on Jan. 30. (Video: Ibn Sina Specialized Hospital via Storyful)
The statement said Jalamneh “carried” a gun but did not indicate that the men had in any way resisted before they were fatally shot. “Jalamneh planned to carry out a terror attack in the immediate future and used the hospital as a hiding place and therefore was neutralized.”
A statement by Hamas confirmed that Jalamneh was a member of the group. Another militant group, Islamic Jihad, said Mohamed and Basil Ghazawi were members and that Basil had been receiving treatment at the hospital.
Hamas called the killings a “war crime” that “will not go unanswered.” Islamic Jihad, in its statement, said it would “not let this crime pass without an appropriate response.”
Video that circulated on social media, apparently taken from hospital security cameras, of the aftermath of the killings showed what appeared to be the Israeli raiding party retreating from the hospital.
A dozen or more people carried assault weapons, moving through the hospital wearing a variety of disguises, including medical scrubs and civilian clothes. One armed man wore a face mask and carried a wheelchair. Another appeared to search a person who was kneeling on the floor. At least three were dressed in women’s clothes.
The time stamp on the footage read 5:43 a.m.
Tawfiq al-Shobaki, a hospital spokesman, confirmed in a text message that Basil Ghazawi had been receiving treatment in the hospital since October and was paralyzed, adding that there had been no exchange of fire before the Israeli forces killed the men. It was the “first time” he witnessed Israeli forces carrying out assassinations in a hospital, he said, adding that in the past, the Israelis had arrested people in medical facilities.
Israeli raids and arrests have intensified across the West Bank since Oct. 7, when Hamas militants crossed into Israel and killed 1,200 people. Jenin has been a center of unrest. According to the United Nations, at least 367 Palestinians, including 94 children, have been killed across the West Bank since Oct. 7, the vast majority by Israeli forces.