Gunmen raid hospital to kill collaborators
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – In dramatic, daytime raids on Gaza City’s largest hospital, Palestinian vigilantes killed two men convicted of collaborating with Israeli intelligence, shooting them at close range hours after they were admitted for wounds suffered when a grenade exploded in their jail cell Monday.
The two had confessed during their trials to helping Israeli forces kill two top Islamic militants. While killing of suspected collaborators are common, the audacious military-style operations in broad daylight with hundreds of witnesses illustrated a progressive breakdown of law and order in the Palestinian territories.
The chain of events that ended in the killings of the two Palestinians began just after sunrise in the central prison at Palestinian security headquarters. Two grenades exploded in a cell where convicted collaborators were being held, wounding seven. They were taken to Shifa Hospital, where one died of his wounds.
Then, bizarre, wild-West scenes played themselves out twice in front of Shifa Hospital, the main medical facility in the city of about 300,000 Palestinians.
Around noon, five masked gunmen taking part in a funeral procession for three other militants killed in an overnight clash with Israeli forces broke away and raced into the hospital.
The five went straight to the room where Mahmoud al-Sharef, 52, was being treated for wounds from the grenade attack. They shot him twice in the head, killing him, and fled the building. Police detained one militant for questioning.
Just five hours later, it happened again.
At least 20 armed militants raced to the hospital in four vehicles, witnesses said, screeching to a halt at the entrance. Most of the gunmen deployed on the street, closing it off, while five ran into the hospital.
This time their goal was the intensive care unit, where Walid Hamdiyeh, 42, was being treated. They shot him three times in the head and chest, killing him, and escaped.
In a statement, Hamas claimed responsibility for the grenade attack and Hamdiyeh’s killing.
Al-Sharef and Hamdiyeh were considered the prime collaborators held in Palestinian custody because of their roles in Israel’s killing of militants.
Hamdiyeh confessed during a 2002 trial to providing Israel with information that helped its forces kill Imad Akel, a founder of the Hamas military wing, in 1993.
Al-Sharef was convicted in 1999 of being involved in the killing of Mahmoud al-Khawja, the founder of Islamic Jihad’s military wing, four years earlier.
• In another development, Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Maaleh Adumim, the largest Jewish settlement in the West Bank with 28,000 residents, should be included on the “Israeli” side of the contentious barrier Israel is building in the West Bank.
Also, a government official said that approval has been given for 600 more housing units in the settlement – an apparent violation of the U.S.-backed “road map” peace plan, which bans such construction.