The United Nations said the killing of two wanted Palestinian terrorists in the West Bank by Israeli security forces as they appeared to be surrendering, looked like a "summary execution" on Friday.
"We're appalled by the brazen killing by Israeli border police yesterday of two Palestinian men in Jenin in the West Bank in yet another apparent summary execution," UN human rights office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence told press in Geneva.
The two wanted men killed on Thursday appeared to be surrendering during a counterterrorism operation in the West Bank, footage showed.
Investigation into the incident is underway
The Israeli military and police issued a joint statement announcing that they had opened an investigation after forces shot at suspects who had exited a building after an hours-long attempt to convince them to surrender.
The shooting took place as Israeli forces were carrying out counterterrorism efforts in Jenin, a day after launching a similar operation in the nearby city of Tubas.
Israel's military and police said in their joint statement that the two men were wanted individuals who were affiliated with a terror network.
Palestinian terrorist organization, Islamic Jihad, announced that the two men were both members of their military wing, the al-Quds Brigades, on Telegram on Friday.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has publicly backed the military and police unit involved in the shooting.
"The (Israeli) fighters acted exactly as expected of them - terrorists should die!" Ben-Gvir wrote on X following the shooting.
The UN's Laurence said Ben-Gvir's comments were "nothing short of abhorrent" and that they need to be deplored.
The foreign ministry of the Palestinian Authority also condemned the shooting as a "heinous extrajudicial killing," despite the men's terror affiliations.