IDF troops enter Jenin hospital without proper approval; military probes incident
Soldiers were pursuing Palestinian teenager who allegedly filmed them, arrested him at hospital; suspect was later freed
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Israel Defense Forces troops entered a hospital in the West Bank city of Jenin without proper approval, the military said Monday.
The incident began earlier in the day after troops of the Kfir Brigade chased after a Palestinian teenager who allegedly filmed them in the Jenin refugee camp.
The suspect ran to the Jenin Government Hospital, where the soldiers detained him. He was freed a short while later.
The IDF said it had launched an investigation into the incident.
Operating at sensitive sites, such as hospitals, typically requires the approval of senior officers.
An Israeli operation in the West Bank dubbed Iron Wall, which began in late January, started in Jenin and has since expanded to refugee camps near Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas where Israel says the Palestinian Authority has failed to crack down on terror.
قوات الاحتلال تنسحب من داخل مستشفى جنين الحكومي وتعتقل فتى بعد ان قام بتصوير الموجودين pic.twitter.com/Rj88EX1suM
— خبرني – khaberni (@khaberni) April 14, 2025
It was reported in February that tens of thousands of Palestinians had fled Israeli military operations across the northern West Bank — allegedly the largest displacement in the territory since the Six-Day War in 1967.
Since October 7, 2023, troops have arrested some 6,000 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,350 affiliated with Hamas.
According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 900 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops, or terrorists carrying out attacks.
During the same period, 51 people, including Israeli security personnel, were killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another eight members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank.
