GENEVA, Switzerland: The United Nations stated on Friday that the killing of two Palestinians in the West Bank—who appeared to be surrendering to Israeli forces—constituted an “apparent summary execution.”
“We are appalled at the brazen killing by Israeli border police yesterday of two Palestinian men in Jenin,” UN rights office spokesman Jeremy Laurence told reporters in Geneva, calling the incident “yet another apparent summary execution”.
He said that UN human rights chief Volker Türk has called for “independent, prompt, and effective investigations into the killings of Palestinians,” and for those responsible for the deaths and other violations in the West Bank to “be fully held to account.”
Israeli army and police officials said Thursday that they were investigating the killings in Jenin, in the northern West Bank.
Videos circulating on social media and broadcast by several television networks show two men emerging from a building with their hands raised as they are surrounded by Israeli forces. The men are then seen lying on the ground before being ordered back inside the building. Gunshots are heard, after which the two men are shown lying motionless.
The Palestinian Authority identified the victims as 37-year-old Yussef Ali Asa’sa and 26-year-old Al-Muntasir Billah Mahmud Abdullah. It described their deaths as a “brutal” summary execution and condemned the incident as a “war crime.”
In a joint statement, the Israeli military and police—who oversee the border guard unit involved—said the forces had been attempting to arrest “wanted individuals who had carried out terror activities, including throwing explosives and firing at security forces.”
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir backed the forces who opened fire, saying: “Terrorists must die!”
The UN human rights office spokesman said the incident occurred amid a sharp rise in “killings of Palestinians by Israeli security forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank,” noting that these deaths have taken place “without accountability, even in the rare cases when investigations are launched.”
He added that “statements by a senior Israeli government official” that appeared to “absolve Israeli security forces of responsibility” raised “serious doubts about the credibility of any future review or investigation carried out by bodies not fully independent of the government.”
Violence in the West Bank has escalated significantly since the start of war in Gaza on October 2023. The spokesman noted that the surge in violence has continued despite the fragile truce between Israel and Hamas that took effect last month.
