Video has emerged showing Israeli forces killing two Palestinian men after they appeared to surrender.
The incident occurred on Thursday in the West Bank city of Jenin, where the Israeli military has carried out extensive operations since early this year.
In footage captured by a local TV channel, two men are seen emerging from a garage with their hands raised. They lift their shirts, appearing to show they are unarmed.
One man is seen crawling out on his hands and knees as an Israeli soldier approaches, before the two men appear to be ordered back inside. The video then cuts.
In separate footage published by Egyptian TV station Al-Ghad, gunshots are heard. The footage shows the two men on the ground after the shooting, with at least one soldier visible firing his weapon.
Israeli military bulldozer was then used to cause the garage entrance to collapse.
Palestinian authorities identified the men as Al-Muntasir Abdullah, 26, and Yousef Asasa, 37, and said Israel had taken away their bodies.
The Israeli military and national police announced they were opening an investigation into the deaths of the two men, who were shot by members of the border police, a special unit that often operates alongside the Israeli military.
In a joint statement, the Israeli military said the two men belonged to a “terrorist organisation operating in Jenin” and had thrown explosive devices and opened fire at security forces.
The military said a “surrender procedure” lasted several hours, during which the men exited the building after an engineering vehicle was used. “After they exited the building, gunfire was carried out at the wanted individuals,” the statement said.
The Palestinian Authority described the incident as “an outright extrajudicial killing in blatant violation of international humanitarian law,” adding the men were killed “in cold blood.”
Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the national police, showed support to the Israeli forces, saying they had acted “exactly as they are expected to — terrorists must die.”
Israel says it is cracking down on militants, but Palestinians and rights groups accuse Israel of using excessive force and say dozens of unarmed civilians have been killed.
Escalation of violence in the West Bank
The incident comes as violence in the West Bank has escalated to unprecedented levels.
Last week, the UN humanitarian office said Israeli forces have killed more than 200 Palestinians in the West Bank so far this year, including 50 children.
It also documented 29 attacks by settlers in the West Bank from 11-17 November, according to UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric. The attacks caused 11 injuries and damage to 10 homes, two mosques and nearly two dozen vehicles, as well as damage to crops, livestock, and roughly 1,000 trees and saplings, he said.
UN humanitarian office figures show approximately 1,485 Israeli settler attacks took place between January and early November this year, with October recording 264 attacks – the highest monthly total since OCHA began tracking incidents in 2006.
Israel’s Civil Administration also recently announced plans to expropriate large swaths of Sebastia, a major archaeological site in the West Bank. Peace Now, an anti-settlement watchdog group, said the site is around 450 acres, making it Israel’s largest seizure of archaeologically important land.
Human Rights Watch also released a report last week in which it found that Israel committed war crimes during its military operations in the occupied West Bank, as 32,000 Palestinians remain forcibly displaced from their homes in the refugee camps of Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams.
Israel’s military raids on refugee camps in the north of the West Bank in January and February amounted to the largest displacement in the territory since Israel captured it in 1967.
Additional sources • AP
