Disguised Israelis kill three terrorists in raid
Covert forces dress as women and medics at hospital
ARMED Israeli troops dressed as women and medical workers stormed a hospital in the occupied West Bank, killing three suspected Palestinian militants.
Footage of yesterday’s raid went viral on social media as deadly violence from the war in Gaza continues to spill over into other territories.
Israel has been accused of “land grab” tactics in Gaza and the West Bank but has been targeting hospitals it claims are used to harbour Hamas terrorists.
The Palestinian health ministry said the Israeli forces opened fire inside the wards of the Ibn Sina Hospital in the town of Jenin.
The video, from security cameras inside, showed about a dozen undercover operatives.
Most were armed and dressed as women with Muslim headscarves or hospital staff in scrubs. Others wore doctors’ white coats.
One soldier could be seen in a surgical mask carrying a rifle in one arm and a folded wheelchair in the other.
The operatives were seen patting down one man who kneeled against a wall, his arms raised.
The Palestinian ministry condemned the deadly attack and called on the international community to pressure Israel’s military to halt such raids in hospitals.
A spokesman for the Ibn Sina hospital later said there had been no exchange of fire, indicating that it was a targeted killing.
The Israel Defence Forces said the terrorists were using the hospital as a hideout. It alleged one of those targeted had transferred weapons and ammunition to others for a planned attack, purportedly inspired by the Hamas assault on southern Israel on October 7.
The IDF did not provide evidence to back the claim.
Israel has come under heavy criticism for its raids on hospitals in Gaza and now the West Bank.
Reinforced
The enclave’s health care system is on the verge of collapse, buckling under the pressure of scores of casualties from the conflict.
Resources – including fuel and medical supplies blocked by Israeli restrictions – are also scarce.
Israeli military claims to have found underground tunnels in the vicinity of hospitals and says it has located weapons and vehicles used on October 7 on the grounds. In a separate development yesterday, Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned more of the country’s troops were being moved to the border with Lebanon in preparation for “what comes next”.
He said additional Israeli soldiers will “very soon go into action… so the forces in the north are reinforced”.
Mr Gallant stopped short of saying how many troops will be deployed but it comes after army chief Herzi Halevi warned the risk of war on the northern border had become “much higher”.
The war was triggered by the Hamas incursion, which killed around 1,200 people with about 250 others taken hostage.
Since Israel responded, more than 26,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.