At least three Palestinians were killed when undercover Israeli agents, some disguised as medical staff, raided a West Bank hospital Tuesday.
An Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer saw a bullet hole on a pillow covered in blood following the raid at Ibn Sina Hospital in the northern city of Jenin, where Palestinians gathered around the bodies of those killed.
The Israeli military said forces entered the hospital – a major health facility serving Jenin city and its adjacent refugee camp – to target Hamas members.
Announcing the killing by Israeli forces of three people inside the hospital, the Palestinian Health stressed that healthcare facilities are granted special protection under international law.
"The minister of health calls urgently on the United Nations General Assembly, international institutions and human rights organisations to end the daily string of crimes committed by the occupation (Israel) against our people and health centres," a ministry statement said.
CCTV footage said to be from the hospital shows multiple armed men and women, disguised in medical uniforms or civilian clothes, moving through the wards.
The video – which AFP could not immediately verify – shows them using a baby carrier and a wheelchair as props.
Hospital Director Naji Nazzal told AFP that "a group of Israeli forces entered the facility undercover and assassinated the men." They used weapons fitted with silencers, he said.
Inside the hospital, the AFP photographer saw blood soaked into a mat and a chair and spattered across a wall.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa named the three men as Muhammad Jalamnah, Muhammad Ayman Ghazawi and Basel Ayman Ghazawi.
"The operation was carried out at the hospital's rehabilitation ward where Basel Ghazawi had been undergoing treatment," the hospital's director said.
The Israeli army alleged that Jalamnah was a member of Hamas hiding in the hospital. Two others who were also hiding inside were "neutralized" along with him.
Israel, which has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, has stepped up its incursions into Palestinian towns and cities since Oct. 7.
Jenin has been the focus of repeated Israeli raids, in which the army has demolished homes and ripped up streets as well as carrying out airstrikes.
