Two Palestinians accused of ‘collaborating’ with Israel ‘are beaten in street in the West Bank before being executed at gunpoint with their bodies hung from an electrical tower’
- Two men were reportedly dragged through Tulkarem at around 9pm on Friday
- They were then beaten and shot about a dozen times as a crowd watched on
Palestinian militants in the West Bank said they had killed two men accused of collaborating with Israeli authorities.
Two men were reportedly dragged through the Tulkarem refugee camp at around 9pm on Friday, accompanied by masked gunmen who shouted ‘Collaborators, collaborators’, according to The New York Times.
The gunmen then beat both men and shot them about a dozen times before other people spat and stomped on their bodies, residents said.
The bodies of the two men were reportedly hung up as a warning, underlining growing fears of increased radicalisation as the war in Gaza continues.
Footage shared online, which could not be verified by Reuters press agency, showed two dead bodies hung from a wall and an electricity pylon in front of angry crowds.
Armed Palestinians join mourners during the funeral of seven men killed the previous day in clashes with Israeli forces in Tulkarem on November 15
A Palestinian militant holds a gun during the funeral of six Palestinians killed following an Israeli army operation at the Tulkarem refugee camp on November 22
A statement from the Tulkarm Brigades, a group based in the West Bank city of Tulkarm that is associated with the Fatah faction, said there was ‘no immunity for any informant or traitor’.
‘We are on the lookout for him and we will hold him accountable,’ it said, referring to any such person.
Footage shared on the Tulkarm Brigades Telegram channel showed a man apparently confessing to working with Israeli security services and providing details of his activities.
The Tulkarm Brigades statement said anyone who had been working with Israeli security services had until December 5 to come forward and repent.
The Independent Commission for Human Rights, a Palestinian rights group, issued a statement criticising extrajudicial killings but said Israeli authorities were responsible for recruiting Palestinian agents.
There was no comment from the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited governance in the West Bank, and no immediate comment from the Israeli security services.
The latest incident provided further signs of the growing tension in the occupied West Bank, which has seen a surge in violence since the start of the Gaza war as Israeli military raids have intensified.
Israeli military vehicles are seen in the town of Tulkarem, West Bank, on November 22
Public execution-style killings of Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel have been rare in recent years but they were more common during the years of the Second Intifada uprising two decades ago.
The West Bank had already been experiencing the highest levels of unrest in decades during the 18 months preceding the attack, but the assault on Israel by Hamas gunmen on October 7 and the subsequent bombardment of Gaza by Israeli forces has lifted the pressure to new levels.
Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers and settlers over the past six weeks and security forces have carried out thousands of arrests, with repeated confrontations between troops and Palestinian protesters.
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