Israeli counterterrorism forces foiled an October 7-inspired terror attack overnight on Tuesday, targeting a cell hiding and planning the attack from the Ibn Sina hospital in Jenin, the West Bank.
According to a joint statement by the IDF, Israel Police's YAMAM counterterrorism forces, and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), Hamas terrorist Mohammad Jalamna was killed during the operation, along with two fellow terrorists who hid alongside him at the hospital.
Twenty-seven-year-old Jalamna, a resident of the Jenin refugee camp, held direct communications with Hamas leadership abroad. According to the statement, he was responsible for transferring weaponry and ammunition to Hamas terrorists across the West Bank for shooting attacks targeting Israelis.
The Israeli commando forces entered the hospital dressed as doctors and nurses, as seen in CCTV footage shared on social media.
'Planned to carry out October 7-inspired attack'
Furthermore, Jalamna used the Jenin hospital as a secret base of operations as he was planning an infiltration attack akin to and inspired by the October 7 massacre, it added.
Along with Jalamneh, Mohammed and Basel Ghazawi, brothers and Palestinian terrorists, were also killed by Israeli forces. Mohammed was a terrorist operative of the Jenin battalions who was involved in numerous attacks including firing at IDF soldiers in the area in recent weeks, the IDF said.
Basel was a Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative involved in terror activities in the area.
Hamas's use of hospitals as bases of terror
The security forces stated that for a long time, a large number of wanted persons had been hiding in hospitals and were using them as a base for planning terror attacks and carrying them out, and that they believed that the hospitals would serve as protection against Israeli security forces.
The statement said that the operation was made possible due to accurate intelligence received before the operation, and an operation of this nature was unprecedented.
One senior official stated, "There are no cities of refuge in the West Bank and there will not be - every terrorist should know this. The hand of the IDF and the security establishment will reach everyone."