Hospital raid video gives rare look at murky Israeli unit

[webfact]

Hospital raid video gives rare look at murky Israeli unit
By JOSEF FEDERMAN

JERUSALEM (AP) — Security camera footage of a deadly Israeli arrest raid in a West Bank hospital on Thursday gave a rare glimpse into the murky undercover units that Israel contends are a key tool in preventing violence and Palestinians revile as a ruthless symbol of Israeli occupation.

In the footage, Israeli officers disguised as Palestinian civilians in Arab garb, including some wearing fake moustaches and beards or dressed as women, burst into the hospital and dragged away a wanted Palestinian in a wheelchair.

One man was shot to death during the sweep, identified by hospital workers as the Palestinian suspect's cousin.

The pre-dawn raid in the volatile West Bank city of Hebron, outraged Palestinians and drew accusations that Israel had improperly used force in a building that should be immune, or at least insulated, from military operations.

"This is an outright crime," said Jihad Shawar, director of the Al-Ahli Hospital. "No one should violate hospitals, but Israel did."

Israel has long used undercover units to arrest wanted suspects. But rarely are their activities captured on camera so vividly.

The hospital released security camera footage showing about a dozen men entering a hospital ward shortly before 4 a.m. A person in a wheelchair suddenly stood up as the security men pulled out their weapons and walked down the hall.

One officer was disguised as a Palestinian woman in a black niqab, a garment that completely covers the face and body. Another, wearing a headscarf, was dressed as a pregnant woman, walking slowly and holding her back. Others wore thick moustaches, Palestinian kaffiyehs or a long beard, typical of devout Muslims.

At one point, the bearded man shouted and pushed a bewildered hospital worker. Roughly two minutes later, the officers were seen pushing a man in a wheelchair, presumably the suspect, back down the hallway.

As they left, one officer turned to the hospital worker and motioned, apparently to let him know that someone was shot. As the officers exited, a pair of hospital workers rushed toward the area of the shooting.

The Israeli military identified the target of the raid as Azzam Shalaldeh, a Palestinian accused of stabbing and severely wounding an Israeli man in the West Bank late last month. It said Shalaldeh, who is about 20, was in the hospital being treated for a gunshot wound he suffered after being shot by his stabbing victim.

The statement said that during the raid, the forces shot to death another man who attacked them. Hospital workers identified him as Shalaldeh's cousin, Abdallah, and said he was shot as he emerged from a bathroom. The army said the cousins are "known Hamas operatives."

Osama Najjar, the spokesman for the Palestinian Health Ministry, called the incident an "assassination." The international human rights group Amnesty International said wounds to Abdallah's head and upper body suggested the shooting was an "extrajudicial execution."

Israel has used undercover units behind enemy lines since the time of its founding in 1948. But operations used against Palestinians took their current shape roughly 25 years ago, at the time of the first Palestinian uprising.

Both the Israeli army and the paramilitary border police maintain such units. During a wave of violence over the past two months, the units have been especially active, and Thursday's incident was not the first time they have been caught on camera.

In one videotaped case, undercover officers dragged a shooting suspect out of a West Bank hospital. Another time, they entered an east Jerusalem hospital to confiscate documents.

Last month, a group of men posing as Palestinian protesters and mingling with rock-throwers in the West Bank were filmed suddenly drawing their weapons and arresting a protester.

Palestinian protesters say the presence of undercover agents is a constant concern, and they often assign people to act as lookouts. The Palestinians accuse the units of using excessive and even deadly force, pointing to numerous cases of wanted militants killed in arrest raids over the years.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said one undercover unit, known as "Yamas," is used primarily in densely populated areas. "There is a tremendous amount of risk," he said, adding that they are crucial in both thwarting attacks and gathering intelligence.

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon praised Thursday's raid. He said small undercover units can today do the work that once required entire military divisions. "We are not just on the defensive. We are also on the offensive," he said.

The author of an upcoming book on the undercover agents said they undergo months of training, often come from Arabic-speaking minorities in Israel and immerse themselves in the "local terrain," intimately learning the habits and movements of their targets. Many serve for years and rise to senior positions in security agencies.

"Their mission is basically to undermine the enemy, terrorize the enemy, not make the enemy feel safe where he is and to apprehend the enemy," said Samuel M. Katz, whose book, "The Ghost Warriors: Inside Israel's Undercover War Against Suicide Terrorism," chronicles the actions of Yamas during the second Palestinian uprising a decade ago.

The exploits of the units have spawned a primetime television drama in Israel called "Fouda," which tells the story of fictional undercover agents.

The disguises in the latest video were reminiscent of an incident in 2010 when agents believed to be from the Mossad spy service were videotaped in a luxury Dubai hotel wearing tennis outfits and blond wigs during a mission to kill a Hamas weapons smuggler.

The location of Thursday's operation sparked debate over whether a hospital is a legitimate target for a military raid.

Emanuel Gross, an expert on military law at the University of Haifa, said "there is no prohibition" under international law from entering a hospital to arrest a suspect.

Hadas Ziv, a spokeswoman for Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, agreed that hospitals are not immune, but she said military activity must be proportionate to the threat in question.

She called Thursday's raid "completely disproportionate," saying that visitors and hospital staff were all put at unnecessary danger.

Israel's Shin Bet security agency, which participated in Thursday's raid, said Israel will not allow wanted suspects to seek cover in "places of refuge."

In a recent case that has generated international uproar, U.S. forces called in a devastating airstrike on a hospital in northern Afghanistan that killed at least 30 noncombatants. The Associated Press has learned that the attack came at the request of Afghan partners, adding to indications that the U.S. did not properly vet information from its Afghan allies before the attack.
___

Associated press writer Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-11-13

[ezzra]

If a helicopter gunship were to swoop over that hospital and blow it to bits killing scores of bystanders

would that be better?

Here you have an elite unit that come to either extract or dispose of one or two person, in an precession

operation to minimize casualties...

"This is an outright crime," said Jihad Shawar, director of the Al-Ahli Hospital. "No one should violate hospitals, but Israel did."

So is sending kids and women with knifes to kill people on buses and on a streets is not not an out right crime?

if not, what is it than?

[AGareth2]

shame!

a blight on humanity

[shirtless]

See the Israelis cry when it happened to them, they are arrogant and have learned nothing in the last 70 years. You reap what you sow

[Linky]

If a helicopter gunship were to swoop over that hospital and blow it to bits killing scores of bystanders

would that be better?

Here you have an elite unit that come to either extract or dispose of one or two person, in an precession

operation to minimize casualties...

"This is an outright crime," said Jihad Shawar, director of the Al-Ahli Hospital. "No one should violate hospitals, but Israel did."

So is sending kids and women with knifes to kill people on buses and on a streets is not not an out right crime?

if not, what is it than?

Yes both are an outright crime. But Israel's crime is govt sanctioned

[jacky54]

Well done Israel, no hiding place for terrorist murderers.

[ezzra]

shirtless, on 13 Nov 2015 - 07:12, said:

See the Israelis cry when it happened to them, they are arrogant and have learned nothing in the last 70 years. You reap what you sow

I beg to differ, they have learned that if they don't protect themselves, no one will be there to protect them,

and beside, no other nation on earth has the rights to either accuse or criticizes Israel for what they

do to protect themselves from an ocean of counters wanting to element them,

I dare you all, show me one country on earth that is without sin, one country that didn't do what ever

it took to save themselves and survive, another nation on earth that had millions of it's people perished

by crazed madmen throughout history?

DELETED

[Linky]

Israel has had millions perish? Wow, for a country that hasnt even been in existence for a century thats a lot.

Can you please provide a link to indicate that number since Israel came into existence?

[Seastallion]

Infiltrators can be summarily executed.

I hope the Palestinians catch a few of them.

Edited November 13, 2015 by Seastallion

[ezzra]

Linky, on 13 Nov 2015 - 07:34, said:

Israel has had millions perish? Wow, for a country that hasnt even been in existence for a century thats a lot.

Can you please provide a link to indicate that number since Israel came into existence?

Were you living in space for the last several decades? Throughout the existence of the Jewish people DELETED to modern day multitude of Arabs countries who's done every thing in their power to innominate

the Jewish state....

why is no one lamenting the systematic genocides of the Syrian people? why. because

no Jews there to blame? arab kills arab is ok, but when a Jew kills arab to protect himself not ok?

[Linky]

Linky, on 13 Nov 2015 - 07:34, said:

Israel has had millions perish? Wow, for a country that hasnt even been in existence for a century thats a lot.

Can you please provide a link to indicate that number since Israel came into existence?

Were you living in space for the last several decades? Throughout the existence of the Jewish people DELETED to modern day multitude of Arabs countries who's done every thing in their power to innominate

the Jewish state....

why is no one lamenting the systematic genocides of the Syrian people? why. because

no Jews there to blame? arab kills arab is ok, but when a Jew kills arab to protect himself not ok?

You stated Israel as a nation. When was that?

[BuaBS]

Couldn't they just bombed the hospital like the US and the Saudi's ?

[ezzra]

Linky, on 13 Nov 2015 - 08:42, said:

ezzra, on 13 Nov 2015 - 08:21, said:

Seastallion, on 13 Nov 2015 - 07:43, said:

Seastallion, on 13 Nov 2015 - 07:43, said:

Infiltrators can be summarily executed.

I hope the Palestinians catch a few of them.

DELETED

You could have tried to answer instead of deflect. I will help you.

Yes the Palestinians have the same right.

Why is it that other people's suffering is less important than the Palestinians? is their blood not red?

do they not scream and cry when killed and shot? and why is it a deflection, you calling it

a deflection is a DEFLECTION on it's self...

and what answer do you want? there is no answer answer, if there was an

answer to all this madness we were not be discussing this here today....

[ezzra]

car720, on 13 Nov 2015 - 08:59, said:

My opinion is that the Israelis are at fault here.

Whatever the legal implications are, if there is a safer way it should be used.

These people were within a hospital precinct. It should have been a simple task for an outfit like this to have besieged the hospital covertly until they tried to leave. This way no innocents would be put at risk.

This smells of shoot first and justify later.

Total sophistry.

Bull crap, Terrorist have been hiding in schools, hospitals and private homes for long time now

ant it is well documented, Palestinians terrorist have been using the general population for a shield

for long time now, hiding rockets and ammunitions under peoples homes as well as in UN installations,

enough with comments from people who knows shit all about this conflict and venture a comment

that is without merits....

[geriatrickid]

Linky, on 13 Nov 2015 - 07:34, said:

Israel has had millions perish? Wow, for a country that hasnt even been in existence for a century thats a lot.

Can you please provide a link to indicate that number since Israel came into existence?

Were you living in space for the last several decades? Throughout the existence of the Jewish people, the Israelites

of a thousands years ago, were persecuted by just every powerful nations on earth, from the ancient

Egyptians to modern day multitude of Arabs countries who's done every thing in their power to innominate

the Jewish state....

why is no one lamenting the systematic genocides of the Syrian people? why. because

no Jews there to blame? arab kills arab is ok, but when a Jew kills arab to protect himself not ok?

You stated Israel as a nation. When was that?

Israel as a nation through history was invaded and conquered multiple times.There is no dispute that the Kingdom of Israel existed.

To argue that it did not is to argue that the Kingdom of Assyria did not exist and that the Assyrians did not invade and capture Israel. The same for the Kingdom of Babylonia, or the Empire of Persia,What do you think the Greeks and then the Romans were doing in Israel?

[geriatrickid]

My opinion is that the Israelis are at fault here.

Whatever the legal implications are, if there is a safer way it should be used.

These people were within a hospital precinct. It should have been a simple task for an outfit like this to have besieged the hospital covertly until they tried to leave. This way no innocents would be put at risk.

This smells of shoot first and justify later.

Total sophistry.

Why at fault? An undercover unit went in to apprehend a fellow who had attempted to murder someone. Why was it unsafe? Surely, the plan of capturing the accused at a quiet time where it was unlikely that there would be alot of people seems like a wise move. Trying to get the accused in one of the high density neighborhoods could have resulted in collateral damage. There would have been no shooting unless Abdullah hadn't emerged from the bathroom. He was either attacking, or shot because the Israelis were spooked.

Why exactly should I be crying over this interaction with Hamas members. especially in light of the Kaboom incident in the Hizbollah section of Beirut which killed 39? Abbas and friends want an uprising. Fine. Bring it on and may the Israelis deal with it the way arabs would deal with it.

[notmyself]

[Thorgal]

My opinion is that the Israelis are at fault here.

Whatever the legal implications are, if there is a safer way it should be used.

These people were within a hospital precinct. It should have been a simple task for an outfit like this to have besieged the hospital covertly until they tried to leave. This way no innocents would be put at risk.

This smells of shoot first and justify later.

Total sophistry.

Why at fault? An undercover unit went in to apprehend a fellow who had attempted to murder someone. Why was it unsafe? Surely, the plan of capturing the accused at a quiet time where it was unlikely that there would be alot of people seems like a wise move. Trying to get the accused in one of the high density neighborhoods could have resulted in collateral damage. There would have been no shooting unless Abdullah hadn't emerged from the bathroom. He was either attacking, or shot because the Israelis were spooked.

Why exactly should I be crying over this interaction with Hamas members. especially in light of the Kaboom incident in the Hizbollah section of Beirut which killed 39? Abbas and friends want an uprising. Fine. Bring it on and may the Israelis deal with it the way arabs would deal with it.

Hebron is populated with some 180.000 indigenous Palestinians.

Only 850 Israeli settlers came to live there in the same city. To know that like elsewhere in West Bank and Israel, these new Israeli occupiers/settlers for 90% can't claim that their families were living there for the last 100 years.

The city has almost been cut in 2 for this Israeli minority. Palestinian shops and streets have been closed for colonial purposes but usuureported for security reasons.

This, just to explain your perspective of 'high density neighbourhoods'...

Collateral damage was done to cousin or brother from the man who had to be kidnapped. He was unarmed against 20 agents. But here again the Israeli's will claim the 'self defence' wildcard as usual in occupied military territories.

This, just to explain that you can't claim self-defense if you are the military occupier on someone else's land or property.

To make it more legitimate you just have to name here and there Hamas and everybody will accept that the family were terrorists.

This, just to explain how you just used a few classic hasbara protocols...

Edited November 13, 2015 by Thorgal

[mmh8]

arguably the palastinians are better off in their current predicament than they would be under any other ruler. just look at lybia, syria, saudi, iraq, yemen etc.

while the current situation is not the best - I bet a few of these people are thanking their lucky stars.

[longtimeexP]

Be careful in the future Zionist Jews . History always repeats itself , as it has done through history , that is when the good Jews suffer through Zionist actions .

[Kasset Tak]

If a helicopter gunship were to swoop over that hospital and blow it to bits killing scores of bystanders

would that be better?

Here you have an elite unit that come to either extract or dispose of one or two person, in an precession

operation to minimize casualties...

"This is an outright crime," said Jihad Shawar, director of the Al-Ahli Hospital. "No one should violate hospitals, but Israel did."

So is sending kids and women with knifes to kill people on buses and on a streets is not not an out right crime?

if not, what is it than?

With your answers to a lot of people I can only assume that you are Israeli or maybe you are just ignorant!

You said that the Jews has learned to defend themselves after WWII, so why can't the Palestinians defend them selves from the occupying force !?

2005-2008 12 Israeli kids where killed from Palestinian attacks while 309 Palestinian kids where killed from Israeli attacks, for injuries the numbers were 14 Israeli kids VS 864 Palestinian kids.

The Israelis have used what happened during WWII to the Jews in Europe as an excuse to kill the Palestinians sins the end of WWII. 1914 in what was then Palestine the population was 815,000; 59,000 of them was Jewish, 81,000 Christians and 657,000 Muslims. With these numbers you can see that Jews where less than 8% of the population and after WWII they where given half of the land but they have occupied/stolen the rest of the land from the Palestinians.

I don't blame the Jews as I know that Jews are people just like me and I have Jewish friends back home, even had 2 neighbors/friends growing up that was Jewish survivors from Auschwitz and even them said that what Israel is/was doing is wrong!!

[Linky]

My opinion is that the Israelis are at fault here.

Whatever the legal implications are, if there is a safer way it should be used.

These people were within a hospital precinct. It should have been a simple task for an outfit like this to have besieged the hospital covertly until they tried to leave. This way no innocents would be put at risk.

This smells of shoot first and justify later.

Total sophistry.

Why at fault? An undercover unit went in to apprehend a fellow who had attempted to murder someone. Why was it unsafe? Surely, the plan of capturing the accused at a quiet time where it was unlikely that there would be alot of people seems like a wise move. Trying to get the accused in one of the high density neighborhoods could have resulted in collateral damage. There would have been no shooting unless Abdullah hadn't emerged from the bathroom. He was either attacking, or shot because the Israelis were spooked.

Why exactly should I be crying over this interaction with Hamas members. especially in light of the Kaboom incident in the Hizbollah section of Beirut which killed 39? Abbas and friends want an uprising. Fine. Bring it on and may the Israelis deal with it the way arabs would deal with it.

Great, blame the poor guy who got killed because he came out of the bathroom. His fault, should have slept in there.

[Linky]

Linky, on 13 Nov 2015 - 07:34, said:

Israel has had millions perish? Wow, for a country that hasnt even been in existence for a century thats a lot.

Can you please provide a link to indicate that number since Israel came into existence?

Were you living in space for the last several decades? Throughout the existence of the Jewish people, the Israelites

of a thousands years ago, were persecuted by just every powerful nations on earth, from the ancient

Egyptians to modern day multitude of Arabs countries who's done every thing in their power to innominate

the Jewish state....

why is no one lamenting the systematic genocides of the Syrian people? why. because

no Jews there to blame? arab kills arab is ok, but when a Jew kills arab to protect himself not ok?

You stated Israel as a nation. When was that?

Israel as a nation through history was invaded and conquered multiple times.There is no dispute that the Kingdom of Israel existed.

To argue that it did not is to argue that the Kingdom of Assyria did not exist and that the Assyrians did not invade and capture Israel. The same for the Kingdom of Babylonia, or the Empire of Persia,What do you think the Greeks and then the Romans were doing in Israel?

Perhaps my question was hard to understand.

When did Israel become a country?

It would seem obvious to anyone that if The jewish people have had such a hard time that they may think to change the way they do things. They are their own worst enemy and learn nothing from history. Their pig headedness will be their downfall as the majority of countries worldwide acknowledge the state of palestine. Its only a matter of time before the UN formalises it and there is nothing Israel can do about it.

[seedy]

Posts Edited, Deleted.

Off Topic, Racist, Troll / Flaming

[Steely Dan]

Be careful in the future Zionist Jews . History always repeats itself , as it has done through history , that is when the good Jews suffer through Zionist actions .

The possibility of history repeating itself is the best possible argument for an independent Jewish state. If you are somehow referring to Karma I would observe that Europeans and Muslims have a load of bad Karma stored up due to their historical mistreatment of the Jews stretching back way before Zionism. Indeed looking at Europe today it would appear payback has commenced.

[Pakboong]

Seastallion, on 13 Nov 2015 - 07:43, said:

Infiltrators can be summarily executed.

I hope the Palestinians catch a few of them.

DELETED

Another fine example of your racist generalizations that you can get away with by hiding behind your "Woe is me I'm a poor Israeli / Jewish"

DELETED

Well, stop acting and behaving as a group of people that is being discriminating against.

stop calling each other using the N word, keep away from gang banging and illegal activities,

study harder and adopt, stop thinking like the world owes this huge debts for having you forefathers

enslaved 200 years ago, the world is sick of hearing about it, the world has learned it's lessons,

so now, move forward....

An Ezzra post from a thread about Black students but I am sure it was an honest mistake.

[ilostmypassword]

shirtless, on 13 Nov 2015 - 07:12, said:

See the Israelis cry when it happened to them, they are arrogant and have learned nothing in the last 70 years. You reap what you sow

I beg to differ, they have learned that if they don't protect themselves, no one will be there to protect them,

and beside, no other nation on earth has the rights to either accuse or criticizes Israel for what they

do to protect themselves from an ocean of counters wanting to element them,

I dare you all, show me one country on earth that is without sin, one country that didn't do what ever

it took to save themselves and survive, another nation on earth that had millions of it's people perished

by crazed madmen throughout history?

DELETED

I wasn't aware that millions of Israeli citizens were killed by crazed madmen.

[seedy]

Posts Edited - quote Hidden post and discuss Moderation

Maybe a read of the Forum Rules will come in handy for some posters.

[Steely Dan]

Linky, on 13 Nov 2015 - 08:42, said:

ezzra, on 13 Nov 2015 - 08:21, said:

Seastallion, on 13 Nov 2015 - 07:43, said:

Seastallion, on 13 Nov 2015 - 07:43, said:

Infiltrators can be summarily executed.

I hope the Palestinians catch a few of them.

DELETED

You could have tried to answer instead of deflect. I will help you.

Yes the Palestinians have the same right.

Why is it that other people's suffering is less important than the Palestinians? is their blood not red?

do they not scream and cry when killed and shot? and why is it a deflection, you calling it

a deflection is a DEFLECTION on it's self...

and what answer do you want? there is no answer answer, if there was an

answer to all this madness we were not be discussing this here today....

I would observe that the Palestinian suffering is only of interest to some of our esteemed members if the blame can somehow be pinned on Israel. 2900 die in Syria, nada, zilch. Arab apartheid policy is applied to Palestinians who have lived their entire lives in Arab Countries, no concern there either.

[Seastallion]

Linky, on 13 Nov 2015 - 08:42, said:

ezzra, on 13 Nov 2015 - 08:21, said:

DELETED

You could have tried to answer instead of deflect. I will help you.

Yes the Palestinians have the same right.

Why is it that other people's suffering is less important than the Palestinians? is their blood not red?

do they not scream and cry when killed and shot? and why is it a deflection, you calling it

a deflection is a DEFLECTION on it's self...

and what answer do you want? there is no answer answer, if there was an

answer to all this madness we were not be discussing this here today....

I would observe that the Palestinian suffering is only of interest to some of our esteemed members if the blame can somehow be pinned on Israel. 2900 die in Syria, nada, zilch. Arab apartheid policy is applied to Palestinians who have lived their entire lives in Arab Countries, no concern there either.

Blame is not "somehow" pinned on Israel, it is squarely and fairly pinned on Israel.

Again, the "But others do it too, Israel is not the only one, so why just condemn Israel" angle is spurious and unfounded. Quit with it. It encourages off-topic posts and is in fact not a justification for Israel's crimes.

I personally have very publicly condemned daesh in Syria and Iraq, and terrorism wherever it occurs.

Note, that freedom fighting is a different case. Whether it be Viet Cong guerrillas fighting an invading foreign army, or French Resistance, the oppressed have to do what they have to do.