Israeli forces dressed as medics raid hospital in Jenin, killing three

Israeli commandos disguised as medics, patients and other Palestinian civilians raided a hospital in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday morning, in footage widely shared online.

The soldiers killed three people inside Jenin's Ibn Sina Hospital. Footage shared online and in Israeli media showed around a dozen Israeli soldiers in the hospital, armed with assault rifles. 

Hamas responded to the attack saying that “Israel’s crimes will not go unanswered”, and said that the killings were a “continuation of the occupation’s ongoing crimes against our people from Gaza to Jenin”. 

The three men killed have been identified as Mohammed Jalamneh, and two brothers, Basil and Mohammed al-Ghazawi. 

According to Israeli media, the raid took around 10 minutes and took place at 5.30am. One of the Israeli commandos was speaking Arabic at the time of the raid, Israel Hayom reported.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said that one of the Palestinians was a Hamas member. 

The raid left parts of the hospital destroyed, with beds upturned and blood stains covering the floor and equipment. 

Tawfiq Al-Shoubaki, the medical director of the hospital told Middle East Eye that some of the Israeli commandos were also dressed as nurses, and drew their weapons as soon as they entered the hospital.

He added that some of the Israeli forces entered Basil al-Ghazawi's room, despite the fact that he was receiving treatment for wounds he sustained on 25 October, following a missile explosion in the Jenin cemetery. 

“No gunshots were heard during their storming of the wounded man’s room. They immediately withdrew after a few minutes, and the hospital staff found the three young men covered in their blood, without any indication that they were alive, and the bullets were concentrated in the head,” he said.

Al-Shoubaki says that the assassinations mark new ways Israel is targeting hospitals and medical staff in Jenin.

The hospital director Naji Nazzal told AFP that the attack took place in the hospital's rehabilitation ward where Basil Ghazawi had been undergoing treatment.

“They [Israeli forces] used weapons fitted with silencers,” he told the news agency. 

An AFP photographer said that he saw a bullet hole in a pillow covered with blood following the raid, the news agency reported. 

Attacks on hospitals

The Palestinian Ministry of Health denounced the attack, saying that healthcare facilities are granted special protection under international law.

"The minister of health calls urgently on the United Nations General Assembly, international institutions and human rights organisations to end the daily string of crimes committed by the occupation [Israel]  against our people and health centres," a ministry statement said.

This is not the first time Israeli forces have raided and targeted the Ibn Sina hospital since the start of the war on Gaza on 7 October. 

In November, Israeli forces and tanks surrounded the hospital during a raid on the city. At least four hospitals in the city were besieged, including the Ibn Sina Hospital. 

“Israeli forces turned up at Ibn Sina Hospital, one of the biggest in the occupied West Bank. They turned up in a raid where they asked medical staff to put their hands up and evacuate the hospital,” an Al Jazeera correspondent reported.

At least two paramedics were arrested in the raid, while drone strikes killed three in the Jenin refugee camp.  

This article is available in French on Middle East Eye French edition.