IDF investigating after 2 Palestinians said shot dead amid clashes during pet retrieval operation

The Palestinian Authority reports that two young Palestinian men where shot dead in the West Bank town of al-Mughayyir, where the Israel Defense Forces says it was operating to retrieve pets owned by Israelis.

WAFA, the PA’s official news agency, says the two 19-year-olds were killed in what it describes as an attack by settlers and Israeli forces. The military however says troops were providing police and an Israeli civilian who entered the village to find the pets, which it adds were identified as belonging to Israelis, when the soldiers were attacked with bricks and stones.

According to the IDF, troops responded with live fire “toward the primary inciters to remove the threat. Hits were identified.”

The army says it’s investigating “the events that preceded the incident and the management of it.”