Jerusalem, Nov 28 (AP) Israeli soldiers on Thursday killed a pair of Palestinian men in the occupied West Bank after they appeared to surrender to troops, drawing Palestinian accusations that the men were executed “in cold blood.” The Israeli military said it was investigating.
The killings, captured in a pair of videos shown on two Arab TV stations, came as Israel pressed ahead with its latest offensive in the West Bank, where the army has stepped up its activities over the past two years. Israel says it is cracking down on militants, but Palestinians and rights groups accuse Israel of using excessive force and say dozens of unarmed civilians have been killed.
Israel has been fighting on a number of fronts as a shaky ceasefire in Gaza moves forward. On Thursday, Israel carried out another round of airstrikes on suspected Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon. Ongoing conflicts in the region have fuelled concerns that unrest could spill over and undermine the fragile truce in Gaza.
A Palestinian-American teenager held in Israeli detention for nine months was also released on Thursday night. The 16-year-old emerged visibly thin and was embraced by his crying family.
Israeli soldiers accused of executing Palestinian men in West Bank The Israeli military announced it was opening an investigation into the deaths Thursday of the two men, which Palestinians have called an execution.
In video shown by the Egyptian TV station Al-Ghad, which have no sound, the men are seen on the ground in front of the troops. They are then ordered to the entrance of a garage. Both men lifted up their shirts to show they are not carrying explosives or large weapons, and one of the men held his hands in the air as they moved. As they are on the ground and surrounded by troops, gunshots are heard and the men slump down, apparently lifeless. At least one soldier appears to fire his weapon.
In a statement, the Israeli military said the two men were wanted militants in the northern town of Jenin who had thrown explosives and opened fire at troops.
It said that after the men surrendered and exited a building, “fire was directed toward the suspects.” It said the incident was “under review” and would be referred “to the relevant professional bodies.” Palestinians and human rights groups say such investigations yield few results, and Israeli troops are rarely prosecuted.
In Ramallah, the Palestinian prime minister's office accused Israel of executing the men “in cold blood.” It called the shooting “an outright extrajudicial killing in blatant violation of international humanitarian law.” Palestinian authorities identified the men as Al-Muntasir Abdullah, 26, and Yousef Asasa, 37, and said Israel had taken away their bodies.
Escalation in the West Bank The shooting is part of a larger operation in a northeastern region of the West Bank. Israel's military has detained more than 100 people since Tuesday in the town of Tubas, according to Abdullah al-Zaghari, spokesman for the advocacy group Palestinian Prisoners' Club.
The military has said the operation was a response to “attempts to establish terrorist strongholds and construction of terror infrastructures in the area.” On Nov. 19, Palestinian attackers stabbed an Israeli to death and wounded three more before being shot down by troops.
Israel's military has scaled up military operations in the West Bank since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack, which triggered the war in Gaza. It has fought militants on multiple fronts, including against Hamas in Gaza and against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The latest operation comes amid a rising tide of Israeli settler violence in the West Bank. Israeli leaders have played down the settler attacks as the work of a small minority. But Palestinians say the attacks are frequent, often in close proximity to Israeli troops, and the settlers are rarely punished.
This report includes content sourced from Press Trust of India (PTI), edited for clarity and context.
