Israel accused of cold-blooded shooting of Palestinians in West Bank raids

Palestinian leaders say Israeli troops 'executed' two men during military operations

Israeli troops were accused of an “outright extrajudicial killing” on Thursday after two Palestinian men were shot dead during raids in the occupied West Bank.

Footage showed troops ordering the two people to move inside a damaged building, before several shots rang out and one of the men was seen collapsing.

The Palestinian Authority said the footage showed that “Israeli occupation forces executed two young Palestinians in Jenin in cold blood, even after they had turned themselves in”. It called the incident “an outright extrajudicial killing in blatant violation of international humanitarian law”.

Beyond the HeadlinesIs US pressure finally forcing Israel to address settler violence?

Listen Now

It came on the second day of increased Israeli military operations in the north of the occupied West Bank, in which Palestinians have been arrested and increased numbers of Israeli troops and aircraft sent in.

The Israeli military said the incident in Jenin was under review. It said the shooting involved “wanted individuals” who had opened fire and thrown explosives at Israeli forces.

Israeli troops “entered the area, enclosed the structure in which the suspects were located and initiated a surrender procedure that lasted several hours”, a statement said. “Following the use of engineering tools on the structure, the two suspects exited. Following their exit, fire was directed towards the suspects.”

Israeli soldiers stand guard behind a barrier on the outskirts of Jenin. AFP

Palestinian reports said Israeli attacks this week have struck the city of Tubas, south-east of Jenin, with several Palestinians arrested by soldiers. Much of the city’s governorate is in the highly sensitive Jordan Valley.

Leaflets in Arabic distributed by Israeli troops in the West Bank said the city of Tubas had become a “haven for terrorism” and that if residents “do not change this, we will act as we did in Jenin and Tulkarm”, both of which have been subjected to vast destruction and displacement by the army.

Recent weeks have also brought a spate of ugly incidents involving Israeli settlers in the West Bank, with mosques vandalised and dozens of incidents recorded. The violence has gone too far even for Israeli authorities, who usually do little to prevent settler attacks on Palestinians.

Britain, France, Germany and Italy issued a joint call on Thursday for the attacks to stop after what they called a “massive increase of settler violence”. They said Israel should halt the approval of new housing units on ultra-sensitive land east of Jerusalem in what is known as the E1 project.

Destabilising activity in the West Bank “risks undermining the success of the 20-point plan for Gaza”, they said, referring to the ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump. “These attacks must stop. They sow terror among civilians. They are harmful to the ongoing peace efforts and for the lasting security of the state of Israel itself.”

Israel also carried out many bombings across southern Lebanon on Thursday afternoon before a keenly awaited visit by Pope Leo XIV on Sunday, which is going ahead despite tension. The Pope will not visit the area.

The escalating Israeli attacks have put Lebanon under pressure as it comes under US pressure to disarm Hezbollah, while the militant group points to Israel's bombings as proof it should not do so.