Palestinians call for action to halt Israeli attacks on West Bank hospitals 

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in the occupied West Bank has called for international intervention to halt Israel’s attacks on the healthcare system after Israeli forces raided a hospital in Nablus and arrested an injured patient.

The ministry on Wednesday issued a statement calling the raid “a flagrant violation of all international laws and conventions that stipulate the protection of treatment centres and patients”.

The Palestinian news agency Wafa said the man, whom it identified as Ayman Ghanem, was arrested at the Arab Specialized Hospital on Wednesday after being targeted by a drone attack near Tubas the day before.

Israeli authorities confirmed having apprehended a Palestinian at a hospital in Nablus. The Israeli military said the attack that injured him also killed three others.

In a joint statement, the Israeli military, the Shin Bet security service and the Israeli police accused him of being “the third member of a terrorist cell that carried out the shooting attack” at Mehola Junction in August, in which an Israeli was killed.

They also accused him of planning to carry out further attacks and posing “an imminent threat to Israeli civilians”.

The Palestinian Health Ministry called on “international institutions” and the Red Cross to “intervene immediately to stop the occupation’s attacks on treatment centres and staff, demanding immediate protection for the health system and all its components”.

The Israeli statement said “the security forces will continue to operate wherever necessary to thwart terrorism in the area and to maintain the safety of Israeli civilians”.

Health establishments including hospitals are protected under international humanitarian law. This protection extends to medical staff, patients and means of transport.

Wafa said Israeli forces conducted a separate raid on a hospital in Tubas on Tuesday, after an Israeli attack on a vehicle at the entrance to Aqqaba that killed two Palestinians and injured another.

According to the agency, the military arrested five members of staff including the hospital’s general director and severely beat the head of the emergency department.

Israeli forces have been raiding hospitals in the occupied West Bank to conduct arrests or to retrieve the bodies of Palestinians killed in its attacks.

At times, the military has conducted targeted killings within their premises.

In January, Israeli forces disguised as medical staff and civilians shot dead three Palestinians inside a hospital in the West Bank city of Jenin.

The killings were carried out by undercover operatives while the men were sleeping at Ibn Sina Hospital, according to statements by the Palestinian Health Ministry and the Israeli army.

Security camera footage circulated online shows about a dozen undercover personnel pacing through a corridor of the hospital with assault rifles.