JERUSALEM — The Palestinian Authority has been using hospitals for
insurgency activities.
Israeli officials said the PA has enabled security officers and
insurgents to use hospitals in the West Bank for strikes against Israel.
They said the hospitals were used for planning attacks as well as a haven
for fugitives wanted by the Jewish state.
The PA has been using at least three hospitals in the West Bank to
harbor insurgents, officials said. They cited hospitals in Bethlehem, Nablus
and Ramallah and said insurgents were also provided assistance by ambulance
services in the West Bank.
On April 23, Israeli troops raided Bethlehem and killed a PA security
officer and a Fatah colleague said to have been involved in attacks against
Israel. The officer was identified as Arafat Abu Shaira, 21, described as
both a PA officer and a senior Fatah insurgent in Bethlehem.
A military statement on Monday said Abu Shaira and his Fatah colleague,
Jaber Fuas Eid Achress, headed Fatah's military wing in Bethlehem. The
statement said Achress, also killed in the Israeli operation, was
responsible for the "planning and execution of numerous shooting and terror
attacks against Israeli citizens, civilian infrastructure and military
targets in the area of Bethlehem and the neighborhoods of Gilo and Har Homa
in Jerusalem."
"In addition Abu Shaira had assembled a great part of the organization's
explosive devices himself," the statement said.
The statement said Abu Shaira had taken refuge in Bethlehem hospital,
operated by the PA. The military said the PA refused to respond to Israeli
requests to detain Abu Shaira.
"It should also be noted that in the past few weeks Arafat [Abu Shaira]
had been hiding in the Bethlehem hospital, by exploiting the hospital for
terror activities," the statement said.
The PA also provided safe haven to another senior Fatah insurgent in
Bethlehem. The military identified him as Daniel Sa'aba Gorg Abu Hammama,
26, accused of participating in shooting attacks on Jerusalem.
"Hammama has been involved in the planning and executing of numerous
shooting and terror attacks," the military said. "Like Abu Shaira, he had
been hiding for the past few weeks in the Bethlehem hospital."
