The United Nations said Friday that the killing of two Palestinians, shot dead in the West Bank while seemingly surrendering to Israeli forces, was an "apparent summary execution".
"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 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".
The Israeli army and police said Thursday they were investigating the killings in Jenin in the northern West Bank, which was filmed from several angles, including by AFP.
Videos circulating on social media and on television channels showed two men emerging from a building with their arms raised, surrounded by Israeli forces.
They were then seen lying on the ground before being directed back inside the building. Gunshots rang out and the two men were seen lying on the ground.
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".
In a joint statement, the Israeli military and police -- which oversees the border guard unit -- said they attempted to apprehend "wanted individuals who had carried out terror activities, including hurling explosives and firing at security forces".
Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir backed the forces who opened fire, saying: "Terrorists must die!"
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".
Violence in the West Bank has soared since Palestinian militant group Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war.
It has not ceased despite the fragile truce between Israel and Hamas coming into effect last month.
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.
At least 44 Israelis, including soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations, according to official Israeli figures.
