The United Nations on Friday condemned the "gruesome" killing of an unconscious Palestinian assailant by an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank, AFP reported.
"I strongly condemn yesterday's apparent extra-judicial execution of a Palestinian assailant in Hebron in the occupied West Bank," UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process Nickolay Mladenov said in a statement.
"This was a gruesome, immoral and unjust act that can only fuel more violence and escalate an already volatile situation."
International outrage against the incident spread quickly after a video showing the killing went viral online. In the video, an Israeli soldier is seen shooting a wounded Palestinian man in the head at point-blank range as he lay on the ground. He was wounded after stabbing another IDF soldier.
The soldier has been arrested and the IDF has opened an investigation into the killing, a move welcomed by Mladenov, who called on Israeli authorities to bring the alleged perpetrator to justice.
The video shows what appears to be one of the most glaring examples of the IDF's alleged use of excessive force and extrajudicial killings so far since violence between Israelis and Palestinians escalated in October.
The killing has been condemned as an "execution" by Israeli rights group B'Tselem and described as a "war crime" by Palestinians.
