Israeli police officer standing guard outside the ICU at Makased hospital in East Jerusalem where a wounded Palestinian is getting treatment. (WAFA photo.)  

JERUSALEM, July 18, 2017 (WAFA) – Israeli police besieged Makased hospital in East Jerusalem on Tuesday seeking to arrest a Palestinian shot and seriously injured by police the night before in Silwan neighborhood, according to hospital sources.

They said a large force has besieged the hospital since the morning with some police officers entering the wards causing panic and disturbance among the patients.

The police are after Ala Abu Tayeh, 17, who is getting treatment at the ICU after being shot during confrontations between Silwan residents and police following tension in the occupied city with Israel’s closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque for Muslim worshippers.

A hospital statement said police behavior at the hospital and its impact on patients “is a serious violation of international laws and conventions stated in the Geneva Conventions.”

It said it was in touch with the International Committee of the Red Cross and the World Health Organization urging their immediate intervention to put an end to the chaos caused by the intervention of the police in hospital affairs.

Palestinian Minister of Health Jawad Awwad called for immediate withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the hospital and its surroundings.

He condemned the police action and called on international organizations to intervene immediately to force Israel to remove its police from the hospital.

M.K.