A video of the raid and testimonies from the Palestinian Health Ministry, the Israel Defense personnel, and Palestinian militant groups show that Israeli security personnel dressed as doctors and patients invaded a hospital in the occupied West Bank early on Tuesday, killing three Palestinian militants.
An IDF statement said the raid targeted militants it described as “hiding” in the hospital, including Mohammed Jalamneh, a member of the Hamas militant group, and that Jalamneh and two other militants, brothers Mohamed and Basil Ghazawi, were “neutralized” during the operation.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said that “occupation forces” raided the Ibn Sina Hospital in the West Bank town of Jenin early on Tuesday and fatally shot three young men in the hospital's wards.
The statement, which did not identify the men, called the raid a “crime” and one of “dozens” carried out by Israel against medical facilities in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
"Jalamneh planned to carry out a terror attack in the immediate future and used the hospital as a hiding place and consequently was neutralized," the statement read. It made no mention of the men's resistance to being shot. Jalamneh "carried" a gun.
Another militant group, Islamic Jihad, said that Mohamed and Basil Ghazawi were members and that Basil had been receiving treatment at the hospital.
Hamas confirmed that Jalamneh was a member of the group in a statement. Islamic Jihad stated that it would "not let this crime pass without an appropriate response."
A video that went viral on social media, allegedly taken from hospital security cameras, showed what appeared to be the Israeli raiding party retreating from the hospital after the killings.
At least three of the individuals carrying assault weapons were dressed in women's clothing, and the video showed them moving through the hospital while disguising themselves in a variety of ways, including civilian clothes and medical scrubs.
One armed man was seen carrying a wheelchair and wearing a face mask, while another appeared to be searching a person who was kneeling on the floor.
It was the "first time" he witnessed Israeli forces carrying out assassinations in a hospital, according to hospital spokesman Tawfiq al-Shobaki, who confirmed in a text message that Basil Ghazawi had been receiving treatment in the hospital since October and was paralyzed; he added that there had not been an exchange of fire before the Israeli forces killed the men.
Since Oct. 7, when Hamas militants entered Israel and killed 1,200 people, Israeli raids and arrests have increased throughout the West Bank; Jenin has been a flashpoint for unrest.
The UN reports that at least 367 Palestinians, including 94 children, have died throughout the West Bank since Oct. 7, with the majority of those deaths being caused by Israeli forces.