Israel’s special forces have killed three Palestinian militants who were hiding in a hospital in the northern West Bank, the army said on Tuesday morning.

The army announced that the target of the operation overnight was a member of the terrorist organisation Hamas and two other extremist Palestinians with links to Islamic Jihad.

The army said the men were hiding in the Ibn Sina hospital.

Video footage from the hospital in the city of Jenin showed Israeli special forces entering the hospital, some disguised as medical staff.

The wanted men were reportedly from the refugee neighbourhood of the city of Jenin, which was considered a stronghold of militant Palestinians.

The 27-year-old Hamas member had been involved in various attacks on Israeli soldiers and had planned an imminent attack “inspired by the massacre on October 7, 2023,” the army said.

It added that he also had connections to the Hamas leadership abroad.

According to Palestinian sources, one of the militants was injured in an Israeli drone attack in October.

He has been receiving treatment at the hospital since then.

The other two men, one of them his brother, had stayed with him during the Israeli operation, the Palestinian sources said.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health condemned the attack and called for international protection for medical facilities in the West Bank.

Israel accuses militant Palestinian organisations of misusing medical facilities and ambulances for military purposes. 

(dpa/NAN)