The Israeli military has launched an investigation after its soldiers were filmed throwing the bodies of three dead Palestinians from the roof of a building during a raid in the occupied West Bank.
Footage of the incident, filmed in the northern town of Qabatiya, near Jenin, then appears to show an Israeli army bulldozer lifting and moving the bodies.
The images have sparked widespread outrage, with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) saying on Friday that it was a “serious incident” that was “inconsistent” with its values and what is expected of its forces.
Local Palestinian officials said at least seven people were killed by Israeli forces in Qabatiya on Thursday.
Under international law, soldiers have an obligation to ensure that bodies, including those of enemy combatants, are treated with respect.
The IDF said it carried out an anti-terror operation in Qabatiya, in which four militants were killed in a “gunfight” and three others were killed after a drone strike on a car.
A journalist in Qabatiya told the BBC that on Thursday morning, the Israeli army surrounded a building in the town.
He described the scene where four men inside the house ran up to the roof and were shot dead by snipers.
Fighting continued in the town and when it subsided, he said he saw Israeli troops climbing onto rooftops and dropping bodies, which were then loaded onto bulldozers.
When asked about the incident captured on video, the IDF said: “This was a serious incident of non-compliance. [our] values and expectations from IDF soldiers. The case is under review.”
The military said one of those killed in Qabatiya was Shadi Zakarneh, who it identified as “the person responsible for directing and carrying out attacks in the northern West Bank”.
The news said he was the “head of a terrorist organization” in Qabatiya but did not specify which group he belonged to.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry and Expatriates in the West Bank described the incident on X, formerly known as Twitter, as a “crime” that exposed the “brutality” of the Israeli military.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby described the footage as “deeply disturbing”.
“If this is proven authentic, it would clearly depict abhorrent and deplorable behavior by professional soldiers,” he told reporters.
Violence has increased in the West Bank since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.
Since then, more than 690 Palestinians have been killed as Israeli forces have stepped up raids and made almost daily arrests, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
Israel says it is trying to stop Palestinian attacks in the West Bank and Israel, in which at least 33 Israelis have been killed.
In Gaza, more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed as a result of Israeli military action, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
