Israeli troops kill man in Al-Ahli hospital raid in southern West Bank

Israeli forces disguised in traditional Arab outfits, including one impersonating a pregnant woman and others appearing to have fake beards, burst into a hospital, killing one man during an arrest raid caught on video that outraged Palestinians.

The raid occurred in Hebron, a volatile city in the southern West Bank that has been a frequent flashpoint of violence during weeks of Israel-Palestinian unrest.

Jihad Shawar, director of Al-Ahli hospital, said more than 20 undercover Israeli agents entered the hospital overnight.

They went to the surgical unit, where they pulled out guns and stormed a room where Azzam Shalaldeh was being treated for gunshot wounds, he said.

The forces handcuffed Shalaldeh and a brother who was in the room, then shot and killed another brother, 27-year-old Abdallah, as he emerged from a bathroom, Shawar said.

“This is an outright crime,” Shawar said. “No one should violate hospitals, but Israel did.”

Osama Najjar, spokesman for the Palestinian Health Ministry, called the incident an “assassination”, saying he believed Israel intended to kill Abdallah Shalalbeh.

The Israeli military said troops shot a man at the hospital while they were there to arrest a suspect in a stabbing attack.

It claimed the man had tried to attack the troops, but gave no further details and would not say whether undercover troops had participated.

The hospital, however, provided security camera video showing 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.

They are joined by what seems to be two women, one wearing a niqab covering the face and body, and the other appears to be pregnant, and has her hand on her lower back as she walks with the group of men.