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Palestinian shot dead in Israeli undercover raid on West Bank hospital Palestinian shot dead in Israeli undercover raid on West Bank hospital
(about 3 hours later)
Israeli undercover forces have raided a hospital in the West Bank, shooting dead a Palestinian during an attempt to detain another man suspected of carrying out a stabbing, the Palestinian health ministry and doctors said. Israeli forces disguised in Palestinian clothes – including one impersonating a pregnant woman in a wheelchair – have raided a hospital in the flashpoint city of Hebron, shooting dead a relative of a man suspected of carrying out a stabbing attack.
The Israeli army confirmed the raid and shooting but did not have details of the man’s condition. It said the raid on Thursday was carried out to detain Azzam al-Shalalda, 27, who was suspected of stabbing an Israeli settler two weeks ago in the West Bank. The operation, involving two dozen undercover soldiers and Shin Bet agents – some wearing fake beards – took place in the early hours of Thursday morning.
The director of Hebron’s al-Ahly hospital, Jehad Shawar, told Palestine radio 20-30 men arrived at the clinic in two minivans at about three o’clock in the morning. They entered with someone in a wheelchair pretending to be pregnant. During the raid, patients on the third floor of the al-Ahly hospital were confined to their wards. Hospitals are customarily regarded in conflicts as protected locations, even for enemy combatants.
CCTV footage from inside the hospital showed a large group of men armed with pistols and rifles, some with beards and others with keffiyeh scarves on their heads, walking through the corridors telling hospital workers to get out of the way. The armed swoop – the second by Israeli forces on a Palestinian hospital this year – saw 27-year-old Abdallah Shalaldeh killed as he emerged from a bathroom in the ward where his cousin, Azzam, a Hamas member, was being treated for gunshot wounds.
“They held the staff at gunpoint and stormed the room of Shalalda,” Shawar said. The Israeli army confirmed the raid and shooting. It said Azzam Shalaldeh was suspected of stabbing an Israeli settler two weeks ago in the West Bank.
Shalalda’s brother Bilal, who was asleep in the room, said he was tied to the bed by the Israeli forces. Hospital staff and eyewitnesses – including another relative of the two men – said troops had entered the hospital with guns hidden beneath the woman pretending to be pregnant.
A cousin, Abdallah, who was in the bathroom, was shot dead when he suddenly entered the room, Shawar said. Jihad Shawar, the hospital’s director, said: “The undercover forces arrived at about 2.50 in the morning. There were 20-30 of them. They came to the main door pretending to be relatives of a woman going into labour and wanted to take her to surgery.
“As his cousin exited the bathroom, which was inside the room, they fired five bullets, one bullet in the head, one in the chest and three in his body,” Shawar told the radio station. “When they got into the reception area the woman stood up and they produced guns, including some hidden underneath her on the wheel chair. They went straight to the room on the third floor where Azzam Shalaldeh, who had been treated here since 25 October, was staying.
“They took Azzam and placed him in the wheelchair they brought the woman in and they exited the room preventing anyone from giving medical aid to the young man lying on the floor.” “They handcuffed his brother [Bilal Shalaldeh] with a belt. But when his cousin Abdallah came out of a bathroom on the ward they shot him five times before taking Azzam in the wheelchair they had brought. This is an outright crime No one should violate hospitals.”
Palestinian health minister Jawad Awad accused Israeli security forces of “executing” Abdallah al-Shalalda, who he said was escorting a relative in the hospital. According to the Israeli authorities, Azzam Shalaldeh was being treated at the hospital for gunshot wounds, which the military said were sustained when the Israeli he allegedly stabbed last month shot him.
“The international community must intervene to protect our people from the Israeli killing machine,” he said. It said he was about 20 and from a family of “known Hamas operatives”.
Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security agency issued a statement afterwards saying it “will not permit terror operatives to hide in any places of refuge”. Israel said Abdallah Shalaldeh was shot to death after grappling with soldiers – a claim denied by some Palestinian witnesses, who said he was shot as he left the bathroom. Others quoted anonymously in the Israeli media said there had been a scuffle.
Bilal al-Shalalda said: “As soon as they entered the room they tied me to the bed. (My cousin) was inside the bathroom and wanted to wash for prayer. As he was exiting the bathroom, one of the undercover men shouted at him to stop and they opened fire. Video camera footage of the incident showed about a dozen men walking down a hospital corridor, pushing someone covered in a blanket in a wheelchair. The person in the wheelchair flings the blanket off, stands up and, with the other men, draws a gun and continues walking.
“He remained on the ground bleeding and they hit my brother on his head and took him away.” On the ward where Abdallah Shalaldeh was shot, a large pool of blood was visible on Thursday.
The army said Azzam al-Shalalda carried out a stabbing in Gush Etzion in the West Bank last month. After stabbing an Israeli settler, he was shot by his victim but managed to escape. Mohammad Mayata was in a neighbouring room when he heard the shots. “I looked out the door and saw two people, one had a pistol and the other an M16,” he sad. “When he saw me he said get inside or I’ll shoot you. When they had gone I came out and found a man lying in a pool of blood.”
A military spokeswoman said he and his family, including the cousin, were known operatives of Hamas. Nidal Abdul Mutalib, 48, was also on the third floor when the soldiers entered. “I heard terrifying shots. And panicked. I went outside. There was a man with a white beard and prayer cap shouting ‘Army! Army! Go back inside!’ The whole thing took eight to 10 minutes. I peeked out again and saw them taking away an injured man in a wheelchair with something covering his head.”
Israel frequently carries out undercover operations in the occupied West Bank, with special forces who speak fluent Arabic dressed as locals. There was another raid on a hospital to detain a suspect last month. The same video footage showed the Israeli forces pushing a man in a wheelchair, apparently the suspect, back down the hall, as perplexed nurses look on.
There has been a wave of violence across Israel, Jerusalem and the West Bank since 1 October, with 12 Israelis stabbed, shot or killed in vehicle attacks by Palestinians. Speaking at Abdallah Shalaldeh’s funeral in the village of Sair outside Hebron later in the day, his cousin Blilal Shalaldeh described the raid.
Seventy-six Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli security forces, including 44 people Israeli police said were carrying out or about to carry out attacks. “It was around three am and I was asleep when a large number of undercover soldiers arrived. They put the other patients in the corner and tied my hands with a belt. When Abdallah came out of the bathroom where he was washing his hands in preparation for morning prayers they shot him and left him to bleed on the floor.” he said.
The violence has in part been fuelled by dispute over access to a site in Jerusalem that is holy to both Muslims and Jews. The incident is not the first time Israel’s undercover forces have been caught on camera since a current wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence began two months ago. Last month, a group of men posing as Palestinian protesters and mingling with rock-throwers in the West Bank were filmed suddenly drawing their weapons and arresting a protester.
The raid comes as a nearly two-month-long outburst of Israeli-Palestinian violence shows no signs of abating. Twelve Israelis have been killed in a spate of attacks by Palestinians, while 78 Palestinians have been killed, 50 of them said by Israel to be attackers, and the remainder killed in clashes with Israeli forces.
The violence erupted in Jerusalem over tensions surrounding a holy site sacred to both Jews and Muslims and quickly spread throughout Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Hebron, the largest West Bank city, has been a particular flashpoint. Several hundred Jewish settlers live in fortified enclaves in the city, amid tens of thousands of Palestinians.
In a statement defending the raid and killing, Israel’s Shin Bet said it would “not permit terror operatives to hide in any places of refuge”.
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, a non-profits rights group, accused Israeli forces of repeatedly violating the special protection afforded to hospital and medical facilities. “By doing so they are putting patients, hospital staff and visitors at risk,” it added.