A Palestinian man carries his belongings as he evacuates his home during an Israeli army raid on the outskirts of the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank . AFP
"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 UN rights chief Volker Turk was calling for "independent, prompt, and effective investigations into the killings of Palestinians," and for those responsible for killings and other violations in the West Bank to "be held fully to account".
Video footage published on Thursday showed Israeli occupation soldiers executing two Palestinian men in the Jabal Abu Dhahir neighbourhood of Jenin, in the northern West Bank, despite both having raised their hands in the air in an attempt to surrender.
Al Jazeera reporter Nour Odeh said the two men had "pulled their shirts up, showing that they were unarmed." After that, the Israeli soldiers ordered them to go back to the building they had sheltered inside.
"And then they were shot dead. They were executed," according to Odeh.
The Palestinian Authority named the two men killed as 37-year-old Yussef Ali Asa'sa and 26-year-old Al-Muntasir Billah Mahmud Abdullah.
It said they were killed in a "brutal" summary execution and condemned the incident as a "war crime".
The UN rights office spokesman said the incident came as "killings of Palestinians by Israeli security forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank have been surging, without accountability, even in the rare cases when investigations are announced".
He said "statements by a senior Israeli government official" seeking "to absolve Israeli security forces of responsibility" raised "serious concerns about the credibility of any future review or investigation conducted by any entity that is not fully independent from the government".
Laurence said Israeli troops or settlers have killed 1,030 Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since the start of the Gaza war.
"Among these victims were 223 children," he said.
Meanwhile, Palestinian resistance group Hamas said the “brutal military campaign targeting the West Bank governorates” demonstrates that armed resistance remains a “natural and legitimate response” to escalating Israeli crimes.
The movement called on Palestinians across the West Bank and Gaza to unite in “comprehensive and unified confrontation” to deter Israeli actions and “thwart its plans against our land and people.”
Forced displacement .. massive crackdown
As part of a military crackdown now entering its third consecutive day, Israeli forces on Friday stormed the Al-Fara’a refugee camp in the Tubas governorate in the northern West Bank.
According to Anadolu Agency, eyewitnesses reported that large numbers of Israeli troops launched extensive raids on residents’ homes, accompanied by the deployment of infantry units throughout the alleyways and streets.
Witnesses said the troops were conducting meticulous searches inside homes amid a widespread military presence in Tubas that has restricted residents’ movement and heightened tension inside the camp.
They added that the army forcibly displaced several Palestinian families from their homes.
Kamal Bani Odeh, director of the Prisoners’ Club in Tubas, stated that occupation forces had detained 162 Palestinians over the past two days, transferring them to makeshift field interrogation centres set up inside commandeered homes, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.
Nidal Odeh, head of ambulance and emergency services in Tubas, said that Red Crescent teams had treated more than 70 Palestinians since the start of the assault, all injured as a result of beatings by Israeli soldiers, WAFA reported.
In a related development, the Israeli military announced that it is preparing to demolish 24 homes in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, describing the move as “operationally necessary” amid escalating actions against camp residents.
The Israeli army has acknowledged carrying out more than 200 raids, arrests, searches, and detentions across the northern occupied West Bank, which has been under an extensive military operation for three days.
Short link: