by Israeli commandos disguised as nurses and doctors raided a West Bank hospital, killing three Hamas terrorists in a lightning-quick covert operation.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the operation on Tuesday, after Palestinian media released CCTV footage showing people dressed as medical workers and Muslim civilians entering a hospital in Jenin, brandishing assault rifles.
A team of IDF and police counter-terrorism commandos entered the Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin overnight, killing a man they identified as a member of Hamas, and two other suspects, the Israeli military said.
Mohammed Jalamneh, 27, “had contact with Hamas headquarters abroad” and was plotting a terrorist attack “in the near future”, the IDF said.
Mr Jalamneh was at the hospital to sit with a friend who was recovering after being injured in an IDF drone strike on a cemetery in Jenin last year.
The undercover commanders entered the hospital, shot the three men with silenced weapons and promptly left.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoted unnamed hospital employees who said the commandos entered the hospital one by one wearing disguises.
CCTV footage, released by Palestinian media, appears to show the attack team gathering in a hospital hallway at the start of the raid.
The first two superintendents, one a man wearing a white doctor’s coat and face mask, the other a woman in a headscarf, stalk through the room, stalking across the tiled floor with their shortened rifles raised.
Behind them, another man wearing a medical scrub carries a rifle in one hand and a wheelchair in the other.
In total, around a dozen commandos – all disguised as medical workers or civilians – are seen gathering at the hospital.
One man, dressed as a brave Muslim with a white prayer cap and a long brown robe, carries a handgun and uses hand signals to direct the commandos to guard the corridors and doors.
In the background, there are several commandos, some of them wearing hijabs, training their weapons on a civilian who was kneeling against a wall, his hands up.
The civilian’s jacket is removed before his hands are tied behind his back, before the jacket is placed over his head as a makeshift hood.
Bags of equipment are brought in and set down as one of the commandos puts on a balaclava before proceeding deeper into the hospital.
After less than a minute, the commandos have moved on and the hall is empty, save for the hooded civilian.
A second video clip released by Palestinian media appeared to show inside the rooms where the three Palestinians were killed.
Two blood-stained chairs are shown, before the camera pans to a hospital bed, which is also covered in blood. A bullet hole in the pillow indicates that the target was killed where he lay.
The Israeli military later released an image showing a handgun with two spare magazines it said was recovered during the operation.
It was reported that ten other people were in the same ward where the raid took place but they were not harmed.
The IDF claimed that Mr Jalamneh transferred weapons and ammunition to “terrorists” to “promote shooting attacks” and reportedly planned a raid attack inspired by the Hamas massacre on 7 October.
Two others killed in the raid have been identified as Mohammed Ghazawi, who is affiliated with the Jenin Battalions that allegedly attacked Israeli troops in the area and his brother Basil is associated with Islamic Jihad.
A deputy director of the hospital was quoted as saying that Mr Ghazawi had been in and out of hospital since October when he was injured and partially paralyzed in his lower body.
International humanitarian law prohibits parties from using hospital garbs or Red Cross symbols in military ways.
A base for launching terrorist attacks
The IDF accused the suspects of using the hospital as a base to launch terrorist attacks.
Israeli special forces have for many years relied on camouflage for their operations.
In 1972, commandos disguised themselves as technicians in white overalls and stormed a hijacked aircraft in Tel Aviv, freeing the passengers, killing two terrorists and capturing two others.
But perhaps most famously, a year later, commandos disguised as romantic couples, complete with wigs, dresses and handbags, slipped into Beirut on a mission to assassinate the top leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
A young Ehud Barak, who would later become Israel’s prime minister, took part in the raid, which followed the Munich Olympics mass crowd.
The refugee camp in the city of Jenin on the West Bank has been the focus of the IDF’s clashes with the Palestinians for months.
At least 58 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank this year, according to rights groups.
