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Jenin -

At dawn today, Tuesday, a group of men accompanied by two women carrying children entered Ibn Sina Hospital in the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank, where the wounded Basil al-Ghazawi (18 years old) has been being treated since last October 25. It later became clear that they were “Arabists” among the An Israeli special force stormed the hospital to assassinate him and his companions, one of whom was his brother Muhammad.

Disguised in medical uniforms and women’s clothing, and with a stroller containing dolls, the special force consisting of approximately 10 people stormed the hospital, and upon arriving at the third floor, they assaulted a member of the medical staff by beating them, then entered the room of the wounded Basil, who was sleeping, accompanied by his brother Muhammad (23). (years old) and their friend Muhammad Jalamna, killing them all, while a nurse who was in front of the hospital entrance when the force withdrew was injured, which required her to be transferred for treatment in the emergency room.

The medical director at Ibn Sina Hospital, Dr. Tawfiq Al-Shoubaki, spoke to Al-Jazeera Net about the details of the operation. He said, "They were not discovered until they reached the upper floor, where they assaulted one of the medical personnel, drew their weapons, then went to the room of the wounded Basil al-Ghazawi, and opened fire directly on the three young men who were sleeping."

Trauma and violation of sanctity

Director Al-Shoubaki confirms that what happened is a violation of the sanctity of the hospital, and of all laws that guarantee the right to treatment for all individuals and wounded, regardless of their background, and criminalize storming and targeting medical centers.

Al-Shoubaki said that the targeting of hospitals in the city of Jenin in general and Ibn Sina Hospital in particular increased significantly after the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, especially since the occupation vehicles bulldozed the streets leading to it more than once, and hindered ambulance workers from reaching the injured and transporting them to emergency rooms.

According to the doctor, Basil Al-Ghazawi had been directly hit by a missile fired at him from a drone 3 months ago, which led to him becoming partially paralyzed. He was receiving treatment in the hospital, and given his health condition, he needed a permanent companion to carry out his basic daily needs, and therefore he was with him. His brother Muhammad, and their friend Muhammad Jalamna helps them. He added, "As a hospital, we guarantee treatment for anyone, regardless of their political affiliation and background."

Hamed Fouad, one of the eyewitnesses, who was in the hospital the moment the special force entered, told Al Jazeera Net, "What happened was very shocking. Everyone felt in danger. We are in a hospital, and I am accompanying my elderly father who is being treated here. I came out to the sounds of screaming and fast, strange movement." I was surprised by a group of men, one of whom appeared to be a doctor, the other a nurse, and a woman.”

He added, "When I approached, I saw them carrying large machine guns, screaming in the hospital corridors, and preventing everyone from leaving the rooms. They were fast and dangerous, and they raised weapons on the medical staff." Then he commented, "I don't know how the army storms a hospital. Have our lives become so permissible? They kill us in health centers and hospitals? This is unbelievable."

In the hospital corridors, one can notice the shock of the people there at the ugliness of the assassination, which was carried out against a wounded man who was unable to move and his companions. People agree that what happened is a “war crime.”

The place of the assassination of one of the martyrs in Ibn Sina Hospital after he was shot by an Israeli special force (communication sites)

Not the first time

The Palestinian Ministry of Health described the assassination of the three young men as “a serious crime added to the occupation’s crimes against Palestinian medical personnel and hospitals,” and called on the United Nations to protect medical institutions in the West Bank and Gaza.

Director of the Ministry of Health in Jenin, Dr. Wissam Sbeihat, told reporters in front of the hospital, “The occupation violated the medical uniform and the sanctity of hospitals, which are not permitted for armed men to enter, and shooting is forbidden,” and that “Israel’s claim of assassinating gunmen who were hiding in the hospital is false, because The martyrs were not armed, and even if the martyr Basil had been injured previously, this does not prevent him from being treated in any hospital.”

This assassination incident brings to mind the raid by Israeli special forces into the Al-Arabi Specialized Hospital in Nablus in 2015, arresting a wounded person from inside it, and the incident of another special force infiltrating Al-Ahli Hospital in the city of Hebron in the south of the West Bank in the same year, arresting a wounded man and killing one of his companions.

"They killed my children"

With great sadness, and in the hospital corridor, the mother of the martyrs Basil and Muhammad Ghazawi was talking about them, saying that Basil miraculously escaped death after being bombed months ago, “Yesterday I was here in the room with them, and after it was too late they asked me to return home. Muhammad told me, I am here with him.” Our friend Muhammad Jalamna will stay with us, and at dawn I heard the presence of special forces in the hospital and I screamed, ‘They killed my children.’”

When she saw one of the doctors treating Bassel, the mother cried and said, “My children are gone, Doctor. My two children are gone! I have no one left, Doctor.”

An Israeli military statement claimed that "a force from the army and Shin Bet killed a Palestinian armed group from Hamas, which was hiding in Ibn Sina Hospital, and that the group was planning to carry out specific operations soon."

The doctors in Ibn Sina, eyewitnesses, and the families of the martyrs refuted this statement, as doctors supervising the case of the martyr Basil Ghazawi said that he was in a state of semi-paralysis, and could not move or even carry out his basic needs on his own, and that he was expected to receive treatment for an additional 6 months. at least.

The doctors said, "The hospital contains a rehabilitation and physical therapy center, and that Basil was scheduled to begin physical therapy there until his health condition stabilized."

The body of the martyr Basil Ghazawi during his funeral on Tuesday morning (Al Jazeera)

The martyr Basil Al-Ghazawi was injured in the martyrs’ cemetery in the Jenin camp, during the Israeli occupation forces’ storming of the camp on October 25, and he was a fighter from the Jenin battalion.

Fighters from the battalion also said that the martyr Muhammad Jalamna (27 years old) was one of the cadres of the Al-Qassam Brigades, and that he was one of those wanted by the Israeli occupation, and had previously been injured. A video clip of his father was spread in which he talked about his son Muhammad’s absence from home for nearly a year, due to... Pursued by the Israeli occupation forces.

Source: Al Jazeera