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- author, John Donnison and Doug Faulkner
- Author title, BBC News
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On Friday, a video was released showing Israeli security forces shooting two Palestinians who appeared to have surrendered in the occupied West Bank.
The incident occurred during the ongoing Israeli military operation in the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank.
The Palestinian Authority accused Israeli forces of committing a “war crime” and described the killings as brutal field executions.
The Israeli army and police say the two men are wanted, that they “belong to a terrorist network” and that the incident is under investigation.
Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir offered his full support to the agents involved, adding that “the terrorists must die.”
Image source, Reuters
With hands raised
The video shows two Palestinian men leaving a building, raising their hands. They are surrounded by several Israeli border guards. They kneel on the ground. One of them lifts his shirt to show that he is unarmed.
After a brief moment, it’s not clear why they return to the building. The border police shot and killed them.
A joint statement by the Israeli army and police said that the forces were trying to arrest people wanted for “terrorist activities” such as throwing explosives and shooting at security forces.
The statement stated, “The forces entered the area, surrounded the building where the suspects were located, and began a surrender operation that lasted several hours.”
Image source, EPA/Shutterstock
He added, “After using engineering tools on the structure, the two suspects came out. After they left, they were shot.” “The fighters behaved exactly as expected of them,” Ben Gvir wrote on the X Network.
The raid on Jenin is the latest in a months-long Israeli campaign in northern West Bank cities, which Israel considers necessary to confront Palestinian armed groups responsible for attacks against Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers.
On Wednesday, the Israeli army launched a military operation in the nearby town of Tubas.
Violence in the West Bank has escalated since a Hamas attack on southern Israel in October 2023, which led to a devastating Israeli military campaign in Gaza.
Since then, Israeli forces or settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians, including members of armed groups and civilians, in the West Bank, according to the United Nations. At least 44 Israelis, including soldiers and civilians, were killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations, according to Israel.
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