Israeli undercover agents raid a West Bank hospital and take an accused militant out of the intensive care unit.

 

An accused Palestinian militant who had been hurt in an Israeli bombing that killed two Hamas members days earlier was taken into custody by Israeli forces in civilian clothing during a raid on a hospital in the northern occupied West Bank on Wednesday night.

A hospital official, who begged to remain anonymous because they are not permitted to speak to the media, told  that some 20 undercover Israeli special forces assaulted the hospital while dressed as physicians, nurses, and even female Palestinians. "The storming, kidnapping, and departure all took less than six minutes."

The suspect was wheeled out of the Nablus hospital in a wheelchair and into an unmarked van by Israeli forces, one of whom was wearing a white medical coat, according to bystander video.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) claimed in a statement that "security forces precisely operated and apprehended him today" at a hospital in Nablus after the suspected militant was the target of a "elimination attempt."

According to the military, Ayman Ghanam, the alleged militant, participated in a gun attack in August that left one Israeli citizen dead and another wounded close to an Israeli settlement in the northern West Bank.

Perfidy, which involves "feigning civilian or non-combatant status" in order to kill, harm, or capture an adversary, is prohibited under international law, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The raid was described as "a flagrant violation of all international laws and conventions that stipulate the protection of treatment centres and patients" by the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The operation was designed to "minimise harm to patients and the medical staff of the hospital," according to the IDF.

In January, three Palestinian men were assassinated when Israeli special forces, posing as civilians and medical personnel, broke into the Ibn Sina hospital in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday.

The IDF said that the Israeli airstrike on a car near the northern West Bank town of Aqaba on Tuesday targeted "a terrorist cell planning an imminent terror attack," injuring Ghanam.


According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health and bystander recordings, Israeli forces invaded a hospital in Tubas city in the hours following the strike, handcuffing medical personnel and detaining multiple individuals. Soldiers "did not enter the hospital," according to the IDF.

 In a statement, the Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas, said that two of its members were killed in Tuesday's attack "after a treacherous Zionist bombardment that they were subjected" while conducting an operation with other militants close to Aqaba.

Ghanam, who had been "seriously injured," was in the intensive care unit at the time of the Israeli attack and had undergone procedures to treat damage to his legs and abdomen, the medical official told .


The IDF declared that "security forces will continue to operate wherever necessary to maintain the safety of Israeli civilians and to thwart terrorism in the area."