Associated Press reports that Israeli forces stormed a hospital in the occupied West Bank on Monday resulting in the deaths of three Palestinian militants.
JENIN - DECEMBER 14: People attend a funeral in Jenin after a muilti-day raid in the city by members of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) that left over 10 residents dead and wounded on December 14, 2023 in the West Bank city of Jenin.The West Bank city, a center of resistance to Israel, has been raided frequently in recent years resulting in many deaths of both civilians and fighters. Israel's war against Hamas that was sparked by the Oct. 7 attacks has also made life more volatile in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Israeli forces here have stepped up raids on alleged militants, police have clashed with protesters, and there has been a rise in violent attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers. Last month, Hamas also claimed responsibility for a deadly shooting in Jerusalem by two brothers from the eastern part of the city.
The dramatic raid underscored how the fighting has spilled over from Gaza to the West Bank since the war began.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said that the IDF opened fire inside the Ibn Sina Hospital wards in the town of Jenin while condemning the raid and calling upon the international community to continue to apply pressure on Israel to halt such raids in hospitals.
A hospital spokesperson said that there was not a gunfight but rather a targeted hit. A spokesperson for the IDF said the militants were using the medical facility as a temporary base of operations. But, as is often the case, no evidence was provided by the Israelis.
They also alleged that one of the individuals killed during the raid had moved weapons and ammunition to others for a planned attack that would have been similar to the Hamas assault on southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Footage believed to be from a security camera at the hospital that has already begun circulating on social media appears to show a dozen undercover soldiers dressed as Muslim women and hospital staff while wearing scrubs and medical overcoats.
"We will not end this war without achieving all of our goals," he said. "We will not withdraw the Israeli military from the Gaza Strip and we will not release thousands of terrorists," said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Current numbers show that an estimated 26,700 people have died in Gaza as a direct result of the IDF offensive, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and fighters, says that two-thirds of the dead are women and children.
85% of the population of Gaza has been displaced by the fighting while a humanitarian crisis of pending starvation for a quarter of the population looms. Gaza's health system, which was insufficient prior to the fighting, is reportedly on the verge of collapse as it struggles under the weight of scores of patients, a lack of fuel, and medical supplies.
Gaza's health care system, which was already feeble before the war, is on the verge of collapse. 380 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since fighting began and nearly 3,000 Palestinians in the West Bank have been arrested in the last four months.
The IDF said that 27-year-old Mohammed Jalamneh was said to be planning an imminent attack, while the other two men killed, Basel and Mohammed Ghazawi were brothers who were hiding in the hospital and were involved in attacks.
Hospital spokesperson Tawfiq al-Shobaki said there was no exchange. He said the Israelis attacked doctors, nurses, and hospital security during the raid."What happened is a precedent," he said. "There was never an assassination inside a hospital. There were arrests and assaults, but not an assassination."
