30-1-2024 (JENIN) Israeli undercover agents, some disguised as medical staff, carried out a raid on Tuesday at the Ibn Sina Hospital in the West Bank city of Jenin. During the operation, three Palestinians were shot dead by the agents, who the Israeli army claimed were Hamas militants. This incident marks the first such operation in eight years.
The aftermath of the raid was captured by an AFP photographer, who documented a bullet hole on a blood-soaked pillow at the hospital. Distraught Palestinians gathered around the bodies of those killed as tensions escalated. The Israeli military justified the raid, stating that their forces entered the hospital to target a “Hamas terrorist cell.”
The Palestinian health ministry, in response to the killings, emphasized that healthcare facilities are granted special protection under international law. In a statement, the ministry called on the United Nations General Assembly, international institutions, and human rights organizations to address the continuous crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinian people and their health centers.
BREACH OF ICJ RULING BY ISRAEL.
Israeli soldiers attacked an hospital in Jenin this morning, disguised as doctors, nurses, and patients. They killed 3 Palestinians in the hospital.@CIJ_ICJ #ICJ_Breach pic.twitter.com/J7IxSTh1mW— Mas Gres (@erlanishere) January 30, 2024
CCTV footage, reportedly from the hospital, revealed multiple armed men and women moving through the wards disguised in medical uniforms or civilian clothes. The authenticity of the video could not be immediately verified by AFP. It showed the agents using a baby carrier and a wheelchair as props during their operation.
The hospital director, Naji Nazzal, revealed that the Israeli forces entered the facility undercover and assassinated the men. He further disclosed that the agents used weapons equipped with silencers. Within the hospital, the photographer witnessed blood stains on a mat, a chair, and spatters across a wall.
The three men killed in the raid were identified by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa as Muhammad Jalamnah, Muhammad Ayman Ghazawi, and Basel Ayman Ghazawi. The hospital’s director confirmed that the operation took place in the rehabilitation ward where Basel Ghazawi had been undergoing treatment.
The Israeli army claimed that Jalamnah, one of the deceased, was a “terrorist” affiliated with Hamas, who was hiding in the hospital. Two other individuals, also identified as “terrorists,” were neutralized during the raid. The army alleged that Jalamnah had been involved in significant terrorist activity, including the distribution of weapons and ammunition for shootings. They added that he had been inspired by the October 7 attacks by Hamas militants in Gaza, which resulted in approximately 1,140 deaths, mostly civilians, in southern Israel.
According to the Israeli army, Jalamnah had planned to carry out a terror attack in the near future and had been using the hospital as a hiding place. As a result, he was neutralized during the operation.
This incident comes amidst heightened tensions in the region, as Israel has intensified its incursions into Palestinian towns and cities since October 7. Jenin has been a focal point of repeated Israeli raids, involving demolitions of homes, destruction of infrastructure, and airstrikes.
While accusations of Israeli troops preventing paramedics from reaching wounded individuals during incursions are not uncommon, deadly raids inside hospitals are rare. The previous incident of this nature occurred on November 12, 2015, when undercover agents, disguised as individuals accompanying a pregnant woman, raided a hospital in the southern West Bank city of Hebron. They apprehended a Palestinian accused of stabbing and killing his cousin inside Al-Ahli Hospital.
Since the October 7 attacks, which triggered a war between Israel and Hamas, more than 370 people have been killed by Israeli troops and settlers in the West Bank, as reported by the health ministry in Ramallah.
