Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has sparked outrage with his statement backing the Israeli forces who killed two unarmed Palestinian men in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. The men, identified as Yussef Ali Asa’sa, 37, and Al-Muntasir Billah Mahmud Abdullah, 26, were shot dead after appearing to surrender with their hands raised.
Ben-Gvir tweeted, “The fighters acted exactly as expected of them — terrorists should die!” The incident has been condemned as a “summary execution” by the United Nations and a “war crime” by the Palestinian Authority.
The UN human rights office has condemned the killing, calling it “yet another apparent summary execution”.
The Palestinian Authority has condemned the incident as a “war crime” and a “brutal” summary execution.
The Israeli military and police have launched an investigation into the incident.
The incident has further escalated tensions in the region, with rights groups accusing Israel of a “systematic policy of extrajudicial killings”.
