Israeli forces disguised as medical personnel and civilians shot dead three Palestinians at a hospital in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.
The killings were carried out by undercover agents while the men slept at Ibn Sina Hospital, according to statements released Tuesday by the Palestinian Health Ministry and the Israeli army.
“This morning, three young men were martyred by the bullets of the (Israeli) occupying forces who stormed the Ibn Sina hospital in Jenin and shot at them,” said the Ministry of Health in Ramallah .
The Israeli army said its troops had “neutralized” the men, who were hiding in the hospital and belonged to a “Hamas terrorist cell.”
Security camera footage posted online appears to show a dozen undercover officers, including three in women’s clothing and two dressed as medical personnel, roaming a hospital corridor with assault rifles.
The Israeli military identified one of the killed men as Mohammad Jalamneh, 27, who it said was planning an imminent attack and transferring weapons and ammunition to other members.
The two other men killed, brothers Basil and Mohammad Ghazawi, were hiding inside the hospital and were involved in attacks, the army said.
“A firearm was found on a wanted person, which was confiscated by the forces,” the army statement added.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Charles Stratford, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, said: “One can only imagine the terror of the patients and staff at Jenin hospital. »
“This is just another example of the Israeli army’s determination to continue its raids against armed resistance fighters across the occupied Palestinian territory,” he added.
Hamas said in a statement that the “crimes of the Israeli army will not go unanswered,” adding that the killings constitute a “continuation of the continued crimes of the occupation against our people, from Gaza to Jenin.”
One of the men was injured and bedridden when he was killed, the Palestinian armed group said.
Hamas confirmed that Jalamneh was one of its members. The Jenin Brigade, which includes a number of Palestinian armed resistance groups, said in a statement that two of the three men were members of Islamic Jihad.
Basil was injured by missile fragments following an Israeli drone attack on October 25 targeting a group of men near the Jenin camp cemetery and had been being treated in hospital for three months, according to sources. ‘Tel Aviv Tribune.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned “in the strongest possible terms the assassination of the three young men by the occupying forces.”
Crowds lined the streets of Jenin as the funeral ceremony for the three men took place. They were to be buried in a cemetery in the Jenin refugee camp.
The Ghazawi brothers’ mother said both were loved by everyone. “The last time I saw them was last night… I was in the hospital,” she said in a video filmed by local media, adding that she had returned home while Mohammad had said he would stay with Basil.
“I was still awake this morning when I heard that special forces had raided the hospital… They were killed while they were sleeping.”
“Undercover assassins”
According to medical staff, one of the three Palestinians killed at the hospital was being treated for an injury received during a previous military raid a few months ago, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Stratford reported.
“The Israeli army often surrounds and, in some cases, attacks the three Palestinian hospitals in Jenin during nighttime raids on the city,” he said.
“But this is the first time they have entered a civilian medical facility in what appears to have been a targeted and well-planned assassination operation that Palestinian authorities call another violation of international law,” he said. he added.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Rory Challands, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, said the attackers were dressed as doctors, nurses and even civilians.
“This unit included Israeli police and soldiers. They went up to the third floor of the hospital and shot three young Palestinians,” he said.
“There does not appear to have been any attempt to arrest these men. They were killed while they were sleeping,” he added.
Violent clashes were reported in the vicinity of the hospital.
Since the start of the Israeli war against Gaza, Israeli forces have carried out daily raids and arrests in the occupied West Bank.
Hundreds of people have been killed and arrested since Hamas’ attacks on Israel on October 7, in which around 1,140 people were killed and some 240 captured.
About 100 of the captives were returned to Israel as part of a truce deal last November in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
At least 26,637 people have been killed and 65,387 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza.