The Palestinian Ministry of Health in the occupied West Bank has urgently called for international intervention to protect healthcare facilities following an Israeli raid on a hospital in Nablus, where an injured patient was arrested.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the ministry condemned the raid as “a flagrant violation of all international laws and conventions” that mandate the protection of medical centers and patients.
The Palestinian news agency Wafa identified the arrested patient as Ayman Ghanem, who it said had been targeted in a drone strike near Tubas the day before. An Israeli official confirmed the arrest and said the attack that wounded Ghanem killed three others.
The Israeli military, along with the Shin Bet security service and the Israeli police, claimed that Ghanem was part of a terrorist cell responsible for a shooting attack at Mehola Junction in August, which resulted in the death of an Israeli citizen. They further alleged that he posed an imminent threat and was planning additional attacks.
On this back, the Palestinian Ministry of Health has called on “the international institutions and the Red Cross, for an immediate intervention in an attempt to stop assault on the health facilities as an act of protection towards the health system and health professionals.
Israeli officials asserted: “The security forces will continue to operate wherever hard toward thwarting terrorism in the area, and to maintain safety among Israeli civilians.”
Under international humanitarian law, health facilities, including staff and patients, are off limits. Yet reports state Israeli forces have raided hospitals across the occupied West Bank to apprehend suspects or recover the bodies of Palestinians killed by military operations.
Wafa reported another incident in Tubas, where Israeli forces stormed a hospital on Tuesday after an attack at the entrance to Aqqaba killed two Palestinians and injured another. During the raid, five employees of the hospital, including the general director, were arrested, and the head of the emergency department was reportedly assaulted.
There have been cases of the Israeli military conducting extra-judicial killings even within the premises of a hospital. In January this year, Israeli forces, disguised as medical workers, shot and killed three Palestinians who were sleeping at Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry and Israeli military sources.
