IDF Undercover Unit Arrests Terrorist in Hebron Hospital

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Israel's crackdown on Palestinian terrorists continued this week, with the dramatic overnight arrest of a suspected terrorist Thursday in his hospital room in Hebron.

The undercover unit, made up of IDF, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and Border Police officers, gained access to Azzam Shadallah's room disguised as an Arab family bringing a pregnant woman feigning labor.

The soldiers entered the room, arresting the suspect and shooting and killing his cousin, Abdallah Azzam Shaldallah, 28, when he attacked them, the Shin Bet later said.

Shaldallah, 20, is suspected in a terror attack in Gush Etzion on October 25 in which a 58-year-old Israeli was smashed in the head with a rock and stabbed in his upper body.

The victim told authorities the terrorist attacked him when he exited his car to inspect the damage from the rocks. He managed to shoot his assailant, who apparently wound up at Hebron's Alahli Hospital, before he fled.

The IDF said Shaldallah, a resident of the Arab village of Sa'ir near Hebron, comes from a family of known Hamas terrorists.

Palestinian Authority Health Minister Dr. Jawad Awaad accused Israel of "terrorism," saying "the execution of Abdallah Shaldallah by undercover agents inside the hospital proves that Israel does not respect international conventions and international humanitarian treaties."

The Shin Bet confirmed the suspect had been transferred to an undisclosed Israeli hospital, saying, "it will not permit terror operatives to hide in any places of refuge."