Israeli forces on Thursday shot dead two Palestinian men in the occupied West Bank after they appeared to surrender, prompting Palestinian officials to accuse Israel of executing them in cold blood. The Israeli military said the incident is under investigation.
Footage aired by Palestine TV and Egypt’s Al-Ghad showed the men emerging from a garage in Jenin with their hands raised and shirts lifted to show they carried no explosives. The videos show them forced to the ground, kicked, then ordered back toward the garage before gunfire erupts. The men collapse as troops surround them, and at least one soldier is seen firing.
Israeli authorities said the pair were wanted militants who had thrown explosives and opened fire at troops. They said that after the men surrendered, “fire was directed toward the suspects,” adding that the case is under review.
Palestinian officials identified the victims as Al-Muntasir Abdullah, 26, and Yousef Asasa, 37. The Palestinian prime minister’s office called the deaths an extrajudicial killing and a violation of international humanitarian law. Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir praised the forces involved, saying “terrorists must die.”
The incident drew comparisons to the 2017 case of Israeli soldier Elor Azaria, convicted of manslaughter for killing an already wounded Palestinian attacker.
The shooting comes amid a wider Israeli operation in the northeastern West Bank, where more than 100 people have been detained since Tuesday, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club. Israel says the raids target attempts to build militant strongholds.
Violence in the West Bank has surged since the Hamas attack on Oct 7, 2023, which triggered the Gaza war. Palestinians and rights groups say Israeli raids and settler attacks have intensified, often with little accountability.
Israel also carried out new airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Thursday, saying the strikes aim to prevent Hezbollah from rearming. The UN says Israeli strikes have killed at least 127 civilians in Lebanon since last year’s ceasefire. Tensions rose this week after a rare Israeli strike in Beirut killed Hezbollah’s chief of staff.
Meanwhile, an American teenager, Mohammed Ibrahim, was released after nine months in Israeli detention. His family said he appeared thin and pale, with signs of scabies. The 16-year-old was arrested during a family visit to the West Bank for allegedly throwing stones at settlers, a claim he said he confessed to only after being threatened during interrogation.