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Israeli undercover forces are seen in this still image taken from Al-Ahli hospital CCTV and obtained by Reuters TV, during their raid of the hospital in the West Bank city of Hebron November 12, 2015.
Reuters/Hebron Al-Ahli Hospital Handout via Reuters TV
Video publish by Maan: "A group of undercover stormed the Al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron and executed Abdullah Azzam Shalaldeh 27-year-old kidnap and wounded Azzam Azmi Shaaban Shallaldah"
Video published by Haaretz: "IDF force enters hospital to arrest a man suspected of committing a stabbing attack, when an altercation broke out resulting in the shooting of the intended target's brother. "
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by Reuters
Israeli undercover forces raided a hospital in the West Bank on Thursday, shooting dead a Palestinian during an attempt to detain another man suspected of carrying out a stabbing, the Palestinian health ministry and doctors said.
The Israeli army confirmed the raid and shooting but did not have details of the man's condition. It said the raid was carried out to detain Azzam al-Shalalda, 27, who was suspected of stabbing an Israeli settler two weeks ago in the West Bank.
The director of Hebron's al-Ahly hospital, Jehad Shawar, told Palestine radio 20-30 men arrived at the clinic in two mini vans at around three o'clock in the morning. They entered with someone in a wheelchair pretending to be pregnant.
CCTV footage from inside the hospital showed a large group of men armed with pistols and rifles, some with beards and others with keffiyeh scarves on their heads, walking through the corridors telling hospital workers to get out of the way.
"They held the staff at gunpoint and stormed the room of Shalalda," Shawar said.
Shalalda's brother Bilal, who was asleep in the room, said he was tied to the bed by the Israeli forces.
A cousin, Abdallah, who was in the bathroom, was shot dead when he suddenly entered the room, Shawar said.
"As his cousin exited the bathroom, which was inside the room, they fired five bullets, one bullet in the head, one in the chest and three in his body," Shawar told the radio station.
"They took Azzam and placed him in the wheelchair they brought the woman in and they exited the room preventing anyone from giving medical aid to the young man lying on the floor."
Palestinian Health Minister Jawad Awad accused Israeli security forces of "executing" Abdallah al-Shalalda, who he said was escorting a relative inside the hospital.
"The international community must intervene to protect our people from the Israeli killing machine," he said.
NO REFUGE
Israel's Shin Bet domestic security agency issued a statement afterwards saying it "will not permit terror operatives to hide in any places of refuge".
Bilal al-Shalalda told Reuters TV: "As soon they entered the room they tied me to the bed. (My cousin) was inside the bathroom and wanted to wash for prayer. As he was exiting the bathroom, one of the undercover men shouted at him to stop and they opened fire.
"He remained on the ground bleeding and they hit my brother on his head and took him away."
The army said Azzam Shalalda carried out a stabbing in Gush Etzion in the West Bank last month. After stabbing an Israeli settler, he was shot by his victim but managed to escape.
A military spokeswoman said he and his family, including the cousin, were known operatives of political and militant Islamist group Hamas.
Israel frequently carries out undercover operations in the occupied West Bank, with special forces who speak fluent Arabic dressed as locals. There was another raid on a hospital to detain a suspect last month.
There has been a wave of violence across Israel, Jerusalem and the West Bank since Oct. 1, with 12 Israelis stabbed, shot or killed in vehicle attacks by Palestinians.
Seventy-six Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli security forces, including 44 people Israeli police said were carrying out or about to carry out attacks.
The violence has in part been fueled by dispute over access to a site in Jerusalem that is holy to both Muslims and Jews.
(Writing by Ori Lewis; reporting by Ali Sawafta and Nidal al-Mughrabi; editing by Luke Baker and Jeremy Gaunt)
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HEBRON (Ma’an) -- Undercover Israeli forces on Thursday shot dead a Palestinian during a hospital raid in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, witnesses and hospital staff said.
Abdullah Azzam Shalaldah, 28, was shot several times by forces who raided the surgery unit of al-Ahli hospital in order to detain his cousin, Azzam Ezzat Shalaldah, 20, who was shot by an Israeli settler last month, hospital staff told Ma’an.
Abdullah and another relative were in the hospital visiting Azzam when around 20 undercover Israeli soldiers entered the hospital at around 4:00 a.m., witnesses said.
The forces tied up the relative while Abdullah, who was in the bathroom at the time, entered the room and was shot dead on scene.
The undercover forces then retreated from the hospital with Azzam, taking him into custody, witnesses added.
Video footage from security cameras shows a group of around 16 men walking through the corridors of the hospital just before 4 a.m. pushing a wheel chair, when suddenly the man sitting down removes his blanket, stands up, and all the men draw guns and proceed down the hall.
The footage also shows what appears to be an Israeli agent dressed as a Palestinian woman, and other Israeli forces dressed as Palestinian Muslim men, wearing keffiyehs and appearing to have fake beards.
An Israeli army spokesperson was unable to comment on the presence of undercover forces during the raid, while Israeli media reported that the forces arrived in two large vans with someone pretending to be pregnant.
The army spokesperson told Ma’an that a combined force of Israeli army and police members had entered the hospital in order to detain Azzam, when an “additional suspect attacked the forces.”
The forces responded with live fire, killing the man, the spokesperson confirmed.
The spokesperson said that the forces detained Azzam on the grounds that he “stabbed an Israeli in the chest in Gush Etzion” on Oct. 25, wounding him severely, adding that "the victim shot him" as he fled the scene.
The spokesperson added that the "Shalaldah family are known Hamas operatives.”
Palestinian security sources told Ma’an on Oct. 25 following the attack that Azzam was shot by an Israeli settler.
A spokesperson for Hadassah hospital said at the time that the settler, 58, had received a light "stab" wound to his chest, and had possibly been hit with a stone in his head.
Palestinian witnesses told Ma'an that they believed that the alleged Palestinian attacker had fled the scene unharmed and that Azzam had been working in agricultural fields when he was shot.
Abdullah, from the Hebron-area village of Sair, was the 80th Palestinian to be killed since Oct. 1.
The majority of those killed were shot dead by Israeli forces during alleged, attempted, and actual attacks on Israeli military and civilians.
Ten Israelis have been killed by individual Palestinians during the same time period.
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by Gili Cohen , Jack Khoury and Reuters, published in Haaretz
A 27-year-old Palestinian was killed early on Thursday during an Israeli military raid on a Hebron hospital.
An IDF plainclothes unit numbering about 20, according to eyewitnesses, entered the Al Ahli Hospital in order to arrest Azam Shalaldah, 20, who was hospitalized in the surgical ward. According to Israeli security agencies Shalaldah was wanted for committing a West Bank stabbing attack on October 25 that left one Israeli moderately wounded.
Palestinian sources say the force was dressed up as a group of Palestinians escorting a woman in labor.
According to Palestinian sources, while the force was arresting Shalaldah, his cousin, 27, returned from the bathroom and surprised the force. He was shot in his torso three times. The Shin Bet said that the cousin attacked the force and was shot as a result. Palestinian sources reported he died. Shalaldah was taken into custody.
Israel's Shin Bet domestic security agency issued a statement afterwards saying "it will not permit terror operatives to hide in any places of refuge."
Shalalda's brother, Bilal, told Reuters TV: "As soon they entered the room they tied me to the bed. (My cousin) was inside the bathroom and wanted to wash for prayer. As he was exiting the bathroom, one of the under cover men shouted at him to stop and they opened fire.
"He remained on the ground bleeding and they hit my brother on his head and took him away."
Physicians for Human Rights Israel issued a statement reading: "Time and again Israeli security forces violate the special protection forded to hospitals and medical facilities. By doing so they are putting patients, hospital staff, and visitors at risk." The organization further warned that these practices will take a toll in life and demanded Israel put a stop to them.
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