The dissemination by the Palestinian Government of a video showing two unarmed Palestinians executed by Israeli soldiers in Jenin (West Bank) has triggered a joint investigation by the Israeli Army and Police, in addition to provoking a wave of condemnations from the Palestinian authorities, local organizations and several political leaders in the region. The images, verified by various media —including the agency Reuters—, they record the moment in whichTwo men appear in an attitude of surrender before being shot several times at close range.
According to the first version of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the two Palestinians were part of a “terrorist network” in the city located in the northern West Bank. The military command explained that its troops and the Border Police surrounded a building and applied a “surrender procedure” that lasted for hours. In a subsequent statement, the Army admitted that its troops “shot” at the two “suspects” after they both left the building with their hands up, without clarifying why they opened fire or what risk they represented at that time.
The images broadcast by the Palestinian Government – and picked up by channels such as Alghad and Al Quds – show the two men leaving a garage on their knees, with their hands behind their heads and surrounded by soldiers who point rifles at them. The sequence progresses with the two Palestinians headed back towards the structure, always under surveillance. At that moment several shots are heard and one of them falls motionless. A Reuters journalist who was nearby saw the men leave in an attitude of surrender and, after the shooting, observed the Israeli forces next to an apparently lifeless body. The agency also cites the Palestinian Ministry of Health, which identified the deceased as Montasir Abdullah, 26, and Yusuf Asasa, 37.
The Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, publicly supported the actions of the uniformed men. “The fighters acted exactly as they should. The terrorists must die,” he wrote in
The Government of the Palestinian National Authority described the event as an “atrocious execution” and described it as a “documented war crime” that violates “all international laws, agreements and norms.” He also maintained that this episode is part of a “systematic and generalized policy of deliberate murders” that, according to his complaint, seeks to turn Palestinian land “into a scene of war crimes.” The ANP urged the UN Security Council to take “immediate measures” to stop the “Israeli killing machine” and to deploy international protection mechanisms, including the possibility of sending peacekeepers.
Hamas released another statement and denounced the “cold-blooded execution” of two “unarmed” young men who “posed no threat.” The organization described the event as a “new link” in a “systematic campaign of extermination and ethnic cleansing.” Although he did not claim the two men as his own militants, he asked the international community to act to stop what he defined as increasingly frequent “field executions.” Reuters confirms that Hamas did not attribute any organic affiliation to the deceased.
The incident occurred during an Israeli military intervention in the northern West Bank that coincided with another raid in the Tubas governorate, where at least 25 Palestinians were injured and a hundred were detained, according to the ANP. The Israeli authorities assure that these operations seek to stop the Palestinian militias, considered terrorist organizations, while the Palestinian side denounces forced displacements, destruction of homes and a tightening of movement restrictions that seriously affects the local economy.
The military context in the area has steadily hardened. Human Rights Watch recently documented the displacement of some 32,000 people following incursions in Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams since 2023. The UN, through the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), counts 669 Palestinians killed in the West Bank between January 2024 and October 2025 due to airstrikes, Israeli fire or other incidents linked to security forces.
Although the Israeli Army promises that the case will reach “the relevant professional bodies,” both the ANP and various Palestinian organizations insist that the video eliminates any doubt about what happened. The open investigation must clarify why the soldiers shot two men who, according to all the visual and testimonial versions cited – including Reuters – had surrendered, were unarmed and did not represent an immediate threat.
