U.S. State Dept. supports death squads, war crimes and soldiers dressed as medics who are executing patients in hospitals

 The U.S. Department of State is supporting death squads executing helpless patients while disguised as medical personnel.

Max Blumenthal, editor-in-chief of the Grayzone, remarked on X that the State Department backs "apartheid death squads which disguise themselves as doctors and nurses to execute comatose teens at point blank range, so long as they operate within the laws of war."

Blumenthal made the comment in response to a post by author Dr. Assal Rad who, in turn, referenced remarks made by State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. The spokesperson reportedly said during a Jan. 30 press briefing that "Israel has the right to carry out anti-terrorism operations to bring members of Hamas to justice."

"We want them to be carried out in full compliance with international humanitarian law," Miller continued. When asked by a reporter if such brutal conduct was befitting a state that controls every single person in a whole territory, he replied: "We think it is appropriate that they have the ability to bring members of Hamas to justice, but as I said it needs to be done in compliance with international humanitarian law."

Israelis kill 3 Palestinian militants in undercover operation

The Guardian reported on Jan. 30 that Israeli soldiers dressed in doctors' scrubs and women's clothes killed three Palestinian militants in a hospital in the West Bank city of Jenin. The attackers were from a border police counter-terrorism unit and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet).

CCTV footage of the operation's aftermath revealed that the soldiers entered the Ibn Sina hospital during the early hours of Jan. 30. Israeli media said the units made their way to a room on the third floor and shot all three men in the head using pistols equipped with silencers in an attack that took less than 10 minutes from beginning to end.  

A staff member who witnessed the attack told the Israeli daily Haaretz that only a few of the 12 or so special forces entered the room and shot the wanted persons. The others spread out over the hospital and the main entrance to prevent any trouble. Israel's military did not give details on how the three were killed.

Tel Aviv said the dead men were Mohammad Jalamana, a spokesperson for Hamas' military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades; Basel Ghazawi of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ); and Basel's brother Mohammed Ghazawi. All three were supposedly active in the umbrella force named the Jenin Battalion, a newly created group that has engaged Israeli forces in intense fighting during raids in the city over the past two years.

The PIJ said the Ghazawi brothers were indeed part of the Jenin cell, while Hamas confirmed that Jalamana was indeed a member. "[This is] a vile crime that will not go without response," Hamas said in a statement, adding that "The resistance forces, who have sworn to fight the occupation until it is expelled, are not afraid of the assassination policy."

Meanwhile, officials at the Ibn Sina hospital said Basel was being treated after being partially paralyzed in an Israeli airstrike on a Jenin cemetery. The November 2023 attack at a cemetery in the West Bank city killed four, including a 15-year-old boy. However, Palestinian media dubbed all four casualties of the attack as members of the PIJ's Jenin battalion.

Hospital spokesperson Tawfiq al-Shobaki said that while there was no shooting during the raid, the Israeli operatives assaulted doctors, nurses and hospital security. Security footage attested to al-Shobaki's statement, with one clip showing one of the undercover agents searching a man against a wall with his hands above his head.

Lots of Israeli attacks on struggling hospitals in the Gaza Strip have been denounced as a breach of international humanitarian law. However, Israel said Hamas' use of medical facilities to cover up or initiate operations makes them legitimate targets.