Israeli Forces Kill 3 Militants in West Bank Hospital Raid, Officials Say – The New York Times

Israeli forces stormed a Palestinian hospital in the occupied West Bank early Tuesday morning, killing three militants, including a commander in Hamas, according to the Israeli military and Palestinian officials.

The top Palestinian health official in the city of Jenin, Wisam Sbeihat, said that Israeli forces had entered Ibn Sina Specialized Hospital there dressed in civilian clothes and carrying weapons. They went to the room where the Hamas commander, Mohammad Jalamneh, 27, was staying with two friends, and shot all three dead, Mr. Sbeihat said.

Surveillance video released by the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry shows multiple gunmen in apparent civilian garb including one dressed in a white medical coat and another in blue scrubs walking through the hospital halls, brandishing weapons. The Israeli raid took less than 15 minutes, said Niji Nazzal, the Ibn Sina hospital director.

This is a hospital. It deserves protection from all kinds of violence, Dr. Nazzal said. But unfortunately, he added, this is what happened.

In a statement, Hamas mourned Mr. Jalamneh as a leader in the Al-Qassam Brigades, the Palestinian faction s armed wing. A local militia affiliated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed his companions brothers Mohammad Ghazawi and Basil Ghazawi as members.

The Israeli military said all three had been involved in militant activity, including attacks against Israelis. Mr. Jalamneh had also been planning to carry out a terror attack in the immediate future and used the hospital as a hiding place, the military said.

via www.nytimes.com