Israeli troops kill 3 terrorists in West Bank hospital who planned major attacks

Israeli troops have killed three members of an armed Hamas cell hiding inside Ibn Sina hospital in the city of Jenin in the West Bank, the Israel Defense Forces says.

The cell is said to have been planning imminent terror attacks, including one resembling the October 7 Hamas onslaught in Gaza-adjacent Israeli communities, with the Israeli operation carried out jointly by the IDF, Shin Bet and Yamam special police unit.

One of the cell members is named as Muhammad Jalamneh, 27, who was allegedly in contact with Hamas headquarters abroad, armed other operatives for a shooting attack, and was previously injured while advancing a car bomb attack.

Some Hebrew media reports say Jalamneh was also a spokesperson for Hamas’s military wing in the Jenin camp.

The IDF names the other two as brothers Muhammad and Basel Ghazawi. Muhammad is said to have been involved in attacks including shooting at Israeli troops, while Basel is said to be a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group.

Many wanted Palestinians have long been staying in the hospital to plan and carry out terror attacks, hoping the medical center will provide protection from Israeli counterterror operations, the military says, in “another example of the cynical use by terror groups of civilian spaces and hospitals as cover and as human shields.”