An uproar took place in an Israeli hospital on Tuesday when Joint Arab List Ayman Odeh physically attacked Otzma Yehudit chairman Ben-Gvir in Kaplan Hospital in Rechovot.

Ben-Gvir was at Kaplan Hospital to “visit” a Hamas terrorist prisoner who is currently on a hunger strike. Hamas operative Miqdad al-Qawasme is a member of a large Arab clan that is a radical faction within Hamas in Hebron and has frequently sabotaged Hamas ceasefires with bombings and attacks. (One of its members was responsible for the kidnapping and murder of the three Jewish teens in 2014.) Al-Qawasme is on the 91st day of his hunger strike in protest of his administrative detention.

Ben-Gvir said at the hospital: “We came after we saw the stream of Knesset members from the Arab Joint List and Ra’am visit to express support for a Hamas terrorist. We came to evaluate the conditions, whether the Prison Services is ensuring that the terrorist is not being turned into a celebrity. We demand that his treatment is carried out in accordance with the law. My feeling is that the [Arab MKs’ visits] put pressure on the Prison Services and the hospital. I came to make sure that the pressure is not working.”

Ben-Gvir met with the hospital’s administrators and they then accompanied him to the ward where the prisoner’s room is located. Odeh, who had heard about Ben-Gvir’s visit, was waiting for Ben-Gvir at the door of the prisoner’s room and physically blocked him from entering, saying that his “visit is a bother to the patient.’ However, Ben-Gvir insisted on entering the room and a loud argument ensued, with Ben-Gvir saying that Odeh has no authority to block him from the room. Odeh lost control and called Ben-Gvir a “little terrorist” and physically pushed him.

מהומה בבית החולים קפלן מחוץ לחדרו של אסיר חמאס שמאושפז בבית חולים ושובת רעב מקדאד קוואסמה:עימותים קולניים שהגיעו לדחיפות אלימות בין חברי הכנסת בן גביר ועודה. @N12News pic.twitter.com/GOyWxf3UrY

— אור רביד | Or Ravid (@OrRavid) October 19, 2021

Ben-Gvir tried to fight back and the hospital administrators had to physically separate the two.

Following the uproar, Ben-Gvir visited the prisoner’s room and then traveled straight to the police station and filed a complaint against Odeh.

Earlier this month, there was an outcry in Israel after a video circulated on social media showing two Arab-Israeli nurses at Kaplan Hospital hugging and posing with Al-Qawasmeh, and many called for the nurses be fired. The hospital summoned them for a disciplinary hearing and said that the nurses “expressed regret for their actions.”

שני אחים בבית החולים קפלן ברחובות הצטלמו יחד עם אסיר חמאס מיקדאד קוואסמה. קוואסמה, השובת רעב ומאושפז בבית החולים, שהה כמה שנים בכלא ונמצא כעת במעצר מנהלי. מבית החולים נמסר: "בודקים את הנושא מול העובדים"@hadasgrinberg @HaimOmri pic.twitter.com/PlOmb8BX8Y

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) October 11, 2021

Below is a photo of Joint Arab List MKs Ahmad Tibi and Mohammad Barakeh and former mayor of Umm al-Fahm Suleiman Aghbariah visiting Al-Qawasmeh.

בית החולים קפלן: נציגי הגיס החמישי הערבי (לשכה בכנסת, חיים על חשבונכם, כן?) אצל מחבל החמאס קוואסמה ,ממשפחת חוטפי ורוצחי שלושת הנערים הי"ד.
אנחנו חיים בהזיה. pic.twitter.com/g5nWiKOn3y

— תורת לחימה (@Torat_IDF) October 16, 2021

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)