Israeli forces have shot and killed two Palestinian men in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, with witnesses and video footage indicating they were attempting to surrender when they were killed.
According to local reports and journalists at the scene, the men had raised their shirts to show they were unarmed before being ordered by Israeli soldiers to re-enter a building where they were then shot.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the victims as Al-Muntasir Billah Abdullah, 26, and Youssef Asasa, 37.
Al Jazeera correspondent Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah, said eyewitnesses described the incident as a “deliberate execution”.
“They pulled their shirts up, showing that they were unarmed, and were ordered back into the building before being shot dead,” Odeh said.
In a statement, the Israeli military said troops were operating against individuals “affiliated with a terror network” in the area, and that they had “initiated a surrender procedure that lasted several hours.”
“After the men exited the building, fire was directed towards the suspects,” the statement read, adding that the incident was under review by “commanders on the ground.”
However, Palestinian officials and human rights observers have condemned the killings as a summary execution. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry described the incident as a “heinous extrajudicial killing” and urged the international community to “take immediate action to halt the Israeli killing machine.”
It called for the deployment of UN peacekeeping forces and international protection mechanisms for Palestinians in the occupied territories.
Mustafa Barghouti, head of the Palestinian National Initiative, denounced the shooting as a “shocking crime.”
“The Israeli army executed two Palestinian men after they surrendered and were arrested in front of cameras,” he said on X. “How can anyone stay silent about these war crimes?”
Meanwhile, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir praised the killings, writing on social media that Israeli forces had “acted exactly as expected of them – terrorists must die.”
The raid in Jenin is part of a series of intensified Israeli military operations across the West Bank over the past year, during which hundreds of Palestinians have been killed.
Rights organisations have repeatedly warned that Israeli forces are using excessive and unlawful force, particularly in densely populated civilian areas such as Jenin.
The United Nations and several international watchdogs have urged Israel to launch independent investigations into such killings, though previous probes have rarely resulted in indictments or accountability.