Israeli forces disguised as women raid West Bank hospital

Three militants were killed in the incident, including one accused of plotting an assault inspired by the October 7 Hamas attack.

Israeli commandos, some disguised as civilian Palestinian women and medics, conducted a raid on a hospital in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, officials have said. Three people died in the operation, including one accused by Israel of plotting an imminent attack.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said Israeli troops had killed three people in the Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin, and called upon the international community to condemn such operations taking place at health facilities.

CCTV footage of the raid circulating on social media, which has not yet been independently verified, appeared to show several undercover troops, including three dressed as women and two disguised as medics, carrying rifles in a hospital corridor. The commandos can be seen searching one man who is kneeling against a wall, before they appear to place a bag over his head.

Israel claimed that the three people killed in the raid were Palestinian militants who had been using the hospital as a hideout. One of the deceased men, identified by the military as Mohammed Jalamneh, had been planning “a raid inspired by the October 7 massacre,” Israeli officials said.

On that date last year, Hamas militants staged a cross-border attack into Israel from Gaza, killing about 1,100 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostages. Palestinian health officials say that more than 26,000 people, mainly women and children, have died in Israel’s subsequent bombardment of the besieged coastal enclave.

The violence, which has led to fears of a broader crisis in the Middle East, has also spilled into the West Bank despite Israel concentrating its military response in Gaza.

Hamas said one of those killed in the hospital was a member of the group, while paramilitary faction Islamic Jihad claimed the other two people who died were members of the organization, adding they were brothers.

The Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry described Tuesday’s attack as a “new massacre inside hospitals” by Israel, which itself has claimed that Hamas is using health facilities to hide militants and weapons in underground tunnels. Hamas denies the claims.

“This is another example of the cynical use of civilian areas and hospitals as shelters and human shields by terrorist organizations,” the Israeli military said.

Israel has received criticism from the international community for its raids on hospitals in Gaza, operations which have exacerbated an already buckling healthcare system on the verge of collapse.

Within the West Bank, tensions continue to flare following the October 7 attack as Israeli forces conduct frequent arrest raids and clash with Palestinians – particularly in Jenin, a militant stronghold.

Since the initial Hamas attack last year, Israel has killed at least 357 Palestinians in the West Bank territory, according to the United Nations. At least ten Israelis have died in Palestinian attacks on Israeli targets in the West Bank during that same period.