JAKARTA - Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir promoted the commander of an undercover unit in the West Bank, occupied Palestine to the rank of colonel, a day after members of the unit executed two unarmed youths in Jenin after they had just surrendered.
Israeli media Haaretz said Ben-Gvir visited the unit base to personally notify the commander of his approval of the promotion, which has been recommended by the police commissioner and senior police chief, according to WAFA (1/12).
During his visit to the unit's headquarters, Ben-Gvir said, "This deviant procedure, where our fighters were immediately interrogated after shooting a 'terrorist', must end. We are fighting enemies and killers," reiterating his support for the actions of the three officers.
He also wrote on social media X, "the fighters acted exactly as expected from them; the 'terrorists' had to die."
Haaretz called the decision unusual, because commanders of similar undercover units throughout Israel's police districts usually have the rank of lieutenant colonels. Those who previously led the same unit also had the rank of lieutenant colonels.
As previously reported, 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 troops were then seen pointing them back into the building before firing fire from close range.
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).
Separately, 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."
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