Security footage appears to show Israeli soldiers shooting unarmed Palestinians

The surveillance video seemingly shows members of the Israeli military shooting three males in the West Bank village of Beit Rama last Friday. The Palestinians appear to be unarmed. A 17-year-old died from his wounds, while two others were treated for injuries. The two survivors said they were unarmed, kneeling by a pile of boxes the 17-year-old was going to use to build a fire. An Israeli military spokesman said Israeli soldiers entered Beit Rama as part of a “counterterrorism operation” and that troops fired at suspects who threw explosives and firebombs at them. The spokesman claims the soldiers opened fire because the 17-year-old was in the process of lighting a Molotov cocktail. It’s not definitively clear from the footage what the teen was doing.

Would Israel shoot unarmed civilians? Israeli leaders insist they are taking the necessary measures to protect civilians while conducting counterterrorism operations. Israel Defense Forces was criticized last month after soldiers accidentally shot and killed three Jewish hostages they were mistaken for Palestinians. An investigation determined that the hostages were shirtless and waving a white flag when the soldiers fired on them.

Dig deeper: Read Jill Nelson’s report in WORLD Magazine on Hamas’ standing in the Arab world.