Israeli Soldiers Shoot Dead Two Palestinians Who Surrendered Without Weapons In The West Bank

Illustration of Israel's border with Palestine in the West Bank. (Wikimedia Commons/Justin McIntosh)

JAKARTA - Israeli security forces shot dead two Palestinians who surrendered unarmed in a raid on Israel's occupied West Bank region on Thursday, according to Palestinian TV news footage.

In the footage the two men were seen coming out of a building surrounded by Israeli armed forces in Jenin City, the northern West Bank, while lifting their clothes and lying on the ground, showed surrender.

However, Israeli forces were then seen pointing them back into the building before firing shots from close range.

A Reuters journalist who was near the scene saw the two men leaving the building, appeared to give up, and then, after hearing gunshots, he saw Israeli forces standing near a lifeless corpse.

Separately, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement the two men were killed in the shooting, identifying them as Montasir Abdullah (26) and Yusuf Asasa (37).

The military and Israeli police issued a joint statement announcing they had opened an investigation after troops opened fire on suspects leaving a building.

The statement gave no reason why the troops opened fire, nor did they say the two men had lay on the ground before they were directed back into the building and shot.

It said Israeli forces had carried out operations in Jenin territory to arrest people wanted for "terror activities, including throwing explosives and firing security forces," the military and Israeli police said in a joint statement.

The two men shot were wanted people affiliated with "terror networks in Jenin territory," the statement said.

However, the statement did not specify the allegations against the two men, nor did it reveal any evidence related to their alleged relationship with the terror network.

According to the military and police, security forces had surrounded the building where the two men were before starting a "self-defense procedure" that lasted several hours.

"After they came out, gunfire was directed at the suspects," the statement said, adding the shooting was "under review by commanders in the field, and would be handed over to the relevant professional body."

Meanwhile, Israel's far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, then issued a statement expressing "full support" to the military and police units involved in the shooting.

"The fighters acted exactly as expected from them terrorists must die !," he wrote on X.

Jenin's attack marks the latest attack on Israel's months-long campaign in the northern West Bank cities. Israeli troops on Wednesday launched operations in nearby Tubas City.

Separately, Jenin Governor Kamal Abu al-Rub who spoke by telephone accused Israeli forces of "cold-blooded execution" of two youths who he said were unarmed and had surrendered.

He said those who opened fire had to take responsibility, but expressed doubts the Israeli authorities would carry out a serious investigation.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which agreed to a ceasefire with Israel in Gaza last month, denounced the killing of the two men in Jenin as "execution" and urged the international community to step in to stop what it called Israel's "field execution escalation".

The group did not claim the two men as members.