Israeli undercover security forces -- looking for a wounded stabbing suspect who had eluded arrest -- sneaked into the Hebron hospital where he was being treated early Thursday morning disguised as a Palestinian family bringing a pregnant woman for delivery.
There, they arrested the suspect, tied his brother to a bed and shot dead his cousin, Palestinian officials said.
Hospital surveillance video posted online appeared to show the undercover agents on their overnight mission. (Image source: YouTube)
Hospital surveillance video shared on social media purported to show Israeli security forces at the scene hiding their identities with hoodies, beards and keffiyeh headscarfs with some dressed in women’s cloaks with Islamic headscarf.
The video also showed the men bringing a “patient” into the hospital in a wheelchair just before 4:00 a.m.
Israel’s Shin Bet security service said its agents went to the hospital to arrest Azzam al-Shalalda who is accused of perpetrating a stabbing attack two weeks ago.
His cousin, Abdallah, was shot dead by the Israeli forces in the hospital room, though reports conflicted as to the unfolding of events.
The hospital director told Israel Radio that the staff knew he was a suspect, but that their job is to treat wounded and sick people without asking questions.
The Shin Bet said the cousin was shot after he tried to attack the Israeli agents. However, Palestinian sources said the man was shot when he entered the hospital room from the attached bathroom.
The director of Hebron's al-Ahli hospital, Jehad Shawar, said that between 20 and 30 men arrived at the hospital before 4:00 a.m. wheeling in an allegedly pregnant woman.
“I don’t know if it was a woman or a man, but it certainly seemed like a scene that we see in the early hours of the morning with women who come to give birth,” Shawar said.
Shawar said they went to the surgical ward where the suspect was being treated and on their way out, the suspect was in the same wheelchair.
Reuters reported that the hospital director told Palestine radio, "They held the staff at gunpoint and stormed the room of Shalalda."
The director said they tied Shalalda’s brother Bilal – who had been sleeping in the room - to a bed and that the cousin was shot dead when he suddenly entered the room from the attached bathroom.
The Israeli security service said the suspect is now being treated at an Israeli hospital.
Azzam al-Shalalda is suspected by Israel of stabbing and moderately wounding an Israeli man in the West Bank two weeks ago. The stabber was shot by his victim, but escaped the scene, the Times of Israel reported, adding that he had been in the Palestinian hospital for two weeks.
A Palestinian doctor shows a bullet hole at al-Ahli hospital in the West Bank town of Hebron after a man was shot dead during a raid by Israeli undercover agents on November 12, 2015. The victim was a Palestinian related to a man suspected of being behind an anti-Israeli attack, official Palestinian and Israeli sources said. (Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images)
The Palestinian Authority health minister accused Israel of committing "terrorism" and an “execution.”
Health Minister Jawad Awaad said, according to the Jerusalem Post, "The execution of Abdallah al-Shalalda by undercover agents inside the hospital proves that Israel does not respect international conventions and international humanitarian treaties."
"I call on human rights organizations and the free world to intervene immediately to stop Israeli terrorism, and to protect medical facilities and hospitals from aggression from the occupation army," Awaad said.
The Shin Bet said in a statement that it “will not permit terror operatives to hide in any places of refuge.”
This story has been updated.
