THE United Nations’ Palestine peace envoy condemned Thursday’s “extrajudicial execution” of a wounded Palestinian by an Israeli soldier yesterday.

Special Co-ordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov said: “This was a gruesome, immoral and unjust act that can only fuel more violence and escalate an already volatile situation.”

Abed al-Fattah Yusri al-Sharif and Ramzi Aziz al-Qasrawi were shot after they allegedly tried to stab Israeli occupation troops in the Old City district of Hebron in the West Bank.

Mr Qasrawi died immediately but Mr Sharif lay on the ground wounded and helpless for several minutes, before an Israeli soldier shot him in the head at point-blank range.

A field worker for Israeli human rights group B’Tselem captured the incident on video and it was quickly disseminated via the internet, provoking worldwide outrage.

Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said military police had detained the soldier — which he called an “extraordinary” measure — and were investigating the incident.

Mr Mladenov welcomed Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon’s condemnation of the murder and called on the Israeli authorities to “swiftly bring to justice” the guilty soldier.

The Bulgarian diplomat continued: “It is time to stop the negative spiral of violence and to begin positive steps towards ending the occupation and bringing long overdue peace and security to the people of Israel and Palestine.”

On Thursday, Mr Mladenov warned the UN security council that the prospect of a two-state solution for Palestine was “slipping from our fingers” as Israel allowed illegal West Bank settlements to expand on stolen Palestinian land.

Meanwhile, the UN human rights council unanimously adopted four resolutions on Israel’s occupation of Palestine, drawing criticism from Tel Aviv, Washington, London and other EU governments.

One resolution calls for a blacklist of companies doing business in the illegal settlements, while another addresses Israeli blockades of the occupied territories, revenge demolitions of homes, violations of holy sites and extrajudicial killings like that of Mr Sharif.

US ambassador Keith Harper claimed the raft of measures “only serves to reinforce the council’s one-sided actions against Israel.”

The US routinely blocks security council resolutions criticising Israel.