A group of Israeli militants disguised as women and medical workers killed three Palestinian terrorists inside a hospital in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that they had “neutralized” a Hamas terrorist cell that was hiding inside Ibn Sina Hospital in the northern West Bank city of Jenin and planning a terrorist attack.
Dramatic surveillance footage shows more than a dozen undercover soldiers moving through hospital hallways, guns drawn. Most of them are armed and dressed as women in Muslim headscarves or hospital staff in scrubs or white coats. One wearing a surgical mask was carrying a rifle in one arm and a folded wheelchair in the other.
Dramatic surveillance footage shows more than a dozen undercover soldiers moving through hospital hallways, guns drawn. (Reuters)
IDF announces Israeli military will destroy Hamas tunnel system built under cemetery
In a joint counterterrorism operation between the IDF, ISA, and Israeli police, the Israeli military killed Mohamed Jaramneh, 27, and said he was planning an imminent attack and was using the hospital as a hiding place. The Israel Defense Forces said Jaramneh was in possession of a gun that was confiscated by security forces.
The IDF said 27-year-old Jaramneh, a long-term resident of the Jenin refugee camp, had contacts with Hamas headquarters overseas and was injured when he tried to facilitate a car bomb attack. Additionally, he transferred weapons and ammunition to terrorists to facilitate shooting attacks and planned attacks.
A flag of the Islamic extremist group Hamas is draped around the body of Mohammed Jaramneh, who was killed in an Israeli military attack on a hospital in the West Bank city of Jenin, on January 30. Palestinian women gather together. 2024. (AP Photo/Majidi Mohammed)
Two more terrorists, Mohamed Ghazawi and his brother Basel Ghazawi, were hiding in the hospital and were also killed during the attack, the IDF announced. Israel said Mohamed Ghazawi, whose brothers were also from the Jenin camp, was a terror operative with the Jenin Battalion and had been involved in numerous attacks in the area in recent weeks, including firing on IDF soldiers. the Defense Force said.
The Jenin Battalion is an offshoot of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian Islamist group designated as a terrorist organization by the State Department.
The military has not provided details on how the three were killed.
In a joint counterterrorism operation between the IDF, ISA, and Israeli police, Israeli forces killed Mohamed Jaramneh, 27, who they accused of planning an imminent attack. The Israel Defense Forces said Jaramneh was in possession of the gun in the photo, which was confiscated by security forces. (IDF)
Israel to ban rebuilding of Israeli settlements in Gaza Strip following concerns from Biden administration
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said Israeli forces opened fire inside the hospital ward. The ministry condemned the attack and called on the international community to put pressure on the Israeli military to end operations at such hospitals, according to the Associated Press.
Hospital spokesperson Tawfik al-Shobaki said there was no gunfight and that the three people were killed in a targeted killing by Israeli forces. He said Israelis attacked doctors, nurses and hospital security guards during the raid.
“What happened is precedent,” he said. “There was never an assassination inside the hospital. There were arrests and assaults, but no assassinations.”
Israel has come under heavy criticism for its attacks on hospitals in the Gaza Strip. Hospitals serve as shelters for displaced people and are a critical but beleaguered lifeline for tens of thousands of Palestinians injured in the war.
Israel says terrorists particularly use hospitals in the Gaza Strip as hiding places and to launch operations. The military said it had discovered an underground tunnel near the hospital and found weapons and vehicles used in the October 7 attack on the hospital grounds.
Staff at Ibn Sina Hospital display a bloodstained pillow after a deadly attack by Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Jenin on January 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Majidi Mohammed)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The IDF said its forces would continue to act against “all threats to the safety of Israeli civilians.”
“For a long time, wanted suspects have used hospitals as bases to hide out, plan and carry out terrorist activities, but their use of hospitals can also be used to protect them from Israeli security forces’ anti-terror operations.” The IDF statement reads:
“This is another ironic example of terrorist organizations using civilian areas and hospitals as shelters and human shields.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
