Israeli commandos snuck into a West Bank hospital and killed three men in a ward they claimed were Hamas terrorists.
CCTV footage, released by Palestinian media showed a group of people dressed as Muslim doctors, nurses and civilians entering a hospital in Jenin, brandishing assault rifles.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed the clandestine operation took place on Tuesday.
However, there has been criticism from humanitarian groups as international humanitarian law prohibits parties from using hospital clothing or Red Cross signs for military means.
Footage showed soldiers in the hospital
Reuters
The Israeli military said the three militants were killed in a joint undercover operation by the army, Shin Bet security service and border police in the Ibn Sina hospital in Jenin, one of the most volatile cities in the West Bank.
One of the people identified by the IDF was Mohammad Walid Jalamna, a Hamas member who, it said, was planning an attack inspired by the Hamas-led rampage across Gaza's border into Israel on October 7, and said a pistol had been recovered.
The military said the two others were brothers Basel Al-Ghazzawi and Mohammad Al-Ghazzawi.
The Palestinian health ministry confirmed the deaths and called on the United Nations to guarantee protection for health centres. "The occupation is committing a new massacre inside hospitals," it said in a statement.
The hospital's director, Dr. Naji Nazzal said the Israeli team had entered the hospital at around 5.30am and made its way stealthily to the third floor, ringing the bell to enter the ward where the men were sleeping.
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A doctor showed the aftermath of the attack
Reuters
Dr Nazzal said: "They executed the three men as they slept in the room. They executed them in cold blood by firing bullets directly into their heads in the room where they were being treated."
He added that Basil Ayman Al-Ghazzawi had been receiving treatment since October 25 for a spinal injury which had paralysed him.
The Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad militant group said the Al-Ghazzawi brothers were members of its armed wing, while Hamas confirmed that Jalamna belonged to its Al Qassam Brigade.
The Israeli military said the three had been hiding in the hospital and said it was "another example of the cynical use of civilian areas and hospitals as shelters and human shields by terrorist organisations". Hamas has denied such allegations.
People attend the funeral of three Palestinians that were killed during an Israeli raid in a hospital, in Jenin
Reuters
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier today that Israel would not withdraw forces from the Gaza Strip or free thousands of Palestinian security prisoners.
Fighting intensified around Gaza's largest hospital still in service, the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, which is surrounded by Israeli troops, the World Health Organization said.
Israel unleashed its assault on Gaza in response to the Hamas attack on October 7 in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and 253 taken hostage. More than 100 hostages remain captive in Gaza.
Since then, the Gaza health ministry has said 26,751 Palestinians have been killed and 65,636 wounded by Israeli actions in Gaza. Around114 Palestinians were killed and 249 injured in the past 24 hours, it said.
