Israeli Soldiers Invade Hospital, Seize 2 Palestinian Suspects, Director Says

Israeli soldiers broke into a West Bank hospital Tuesday, fired tear gas and rubber bullets, beat doctors and took away two Palestinian boys suspected of throwing stones at troops, the hospital director said.

An army spokesman denied that any doctors were beaten. He said the Palestinians were detained at the hospital’s entrance.

Israeli soldiers also shot an Arab protester in the shoulder at Sebastiya, a West Bank town near Nablus where protesters clashed with troops, hospital officials in Nablus reported.

In Ramallah, 8 miles north of Jerusalem, Dr. Yassir Obeid said three Israeli soldiers burst into the government-run hospital with guns drawn shortly before noon. He said they arrested two boys aged 10 and 11, one inside and the other at the entrance.

Arab protesters have used hospitals as hiding places during 12 weeks of riots in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Soldiers have broken into hospitals at least seven times. Some doctors say that injured Arabs stay away for fear of being arrested.

Obeid said soldiers struck him and Dr. Wadah Badah with their weapons when Obeid asked to see an order authorizing them to enter the hospital.

“The soldier hit me in the abdomen with the back of his gun and said ‘Get away!’ ” Obeid said in a telephone interview. “Then he hit Dr. Badah in the chest and slammed him against the wall.”

He said he saw soldiers drag the boys to a grove of trees behind the hospital, bind their wrists and beat them for about 15 minutes.

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