West Bank: Israeli army claims to have killed three Hamas-linked Palestinians and refugees in hospital

Tensions in the West Bank are not abating. Three Palestinians branded as “terrorists” by Israel were killed Tuesday at a Jenin hospital during a targeted operation by Israeli forces in the city in the northern occupied West Bank, according to regular sources. An AFP journalist saw the bodies of three men in hospital, mourned by relatives. According to the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Health, “three martyrs (were) shot dead by occupation forces at Avicenna Hospital” in Jenin, a stronghold of Palestinian armed groups.

In a joint statement, the army, internal security and Israeli police said that during the joint operation they “neutralized” Mohammad Jalamna, a “Hamas terrorist” who was “hiding” in the hospital, as well as “two other terrorists.” , Bassel and Ayman Ghazavi.

“A group of representatives of the occupying forces entered, dressed in civilian clothes (in the hospital) and killed there (three men“using” weapons equipped with silencers, said Dr. Naji Nazzal, the facility’s medical director. “The operation took place in the rehabilitation department on the third floor, where Bassel Ghazavi had been receiving treatment since October 25,” the doctor said, adding that the man “could no longer move at all.”

“Contacts with Hamas”, according to Israel

According to a statement by Israeli forces, Jalamna “maintained contacts with Hamas command posts abroad and (had) was wounded while trying to cause a car explosion” some time ago. He also allegedly “provided weapons and ammunition to terrorists to carry out terrorist attacks” and “planned a raid inspired by the October 7 massacre.”

“Jalamna planned to carry out the attack at short notice and used the hospital to hide. Therefore, he was neutralized,” the Israeli security forces said in a statement. According to them, a “large number” of Palestinians wanted by Israel are hiding “in hospitals” and using them “as bases for planning terrorist activities and carrying out terrorist attacks.”

That day, Hamas commandos launched a surprise attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing about 1,140 people on the Israeli side, according to an Agence France-Presse tally based on official Israeli data. In response, Israel vowed to “destroy” the Palestinian Islamist movement that has held power in the Gaza Strip since 2007 and launched a massive military operation that left 26,637 people dead in the small coastal territory, the vast majority of them women, children and teenagers , according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.