Execution of Two Young Men in Jenin: A Serious Escalation of Gross Abuses Against Palestinians
03/12/2025 – Union for Justice
The Union for Justice stated that the Israeli army’s field execution of two Palestinian young men in the city of Jenin, in the northern occupied West Bank, marks a new and alarming chapter in the ongoing series of deliberate extrajudicial killings. These killings were carried out without justification or threat, as part of a systematic policy aimed at eliminating Palestinians in areas under occupation, in blatant violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, especially the obligations imposed on an occupying power toward the protected population.
The organization explained that available information indicates that on 27 November 2025, Israeli forces surrounded the two young men after storming one of the city’s neighborhoods—specifically the Jabal Abu Zahir area—and opened fire on them from extremely close range, despite their surrender and their exit from the building without any exchange of fire or direct threat. Military bulldozers then mutilated their bodies in full view of the public. The Union emphasized that this conduct clearly falls within the pattern of field executions, the frequency of which has sharply increased in recent months. The facts also indicate that what occurred was a deliberate and direct killing intended to take life—amounting to a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health stated that the General Authority of Civil Affairs informed it of the “killing of the two young men—Montaser Billah Mahmoud Qassem Abdullah (26) and Yousef Ali Yousef Asa’sa (37)—by Israeli gunfire in the Jabal Abu Zahir area of Jenin, and the seizure of their bodies.”
Local human rights and media organizations confirmed that Israeli forces prevented Palestinian ambulance crews from reaching the two young men for an extended period, greatly reducing their chances of survival—an explicit violation of the occupying power’s obligations to facilitate humanitarian work, rescue the wounded, and refrain from obstructing medical assistance. They added that “the occupation now behaves with complete disregard for Palestinian life” amid international silence that emboldens these ongoing violations.
Eyewitnesses reported that Israeli forces dragged the bodies away and withheld them, continuing a policy of collective punishment by preventing families from burying their loved ones—another violation of the dignity of the dead under international humanitarian law.
The UN Office for Human Rights also expressed shock at the killing of the two Palestinians, stating that the incident appears to amount to an execution without trial.
UN spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said during a Geneva briefing: “We are appalled by the blatant killing carried out yesterday by Israeli police of two Palestinian men in Jenin, in what appears to be yet another extrajudicial execution.”
Despite the army’s announcement that it intends to open an investigation, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, decided to promote the commander of the undercover “Mista’arvim” unit in the West Bank to the rank of colonel, as a reward for his unit’s execution of the two unarmed young men in Jenin—despite their surrender—openly defying international laws, treaties, and universal human rights standards.
Legal Assessment of the Crime
1- A Grave Breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention
Field executions without trial are among the most serious violations of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, especially:
Article 27 – protection of civilians
Article 32 – prohibition of torture, cruel treatment, and willful killing
Article 147 – classifies willful killing as a war crime requiring international prosecution
Targeting a person who is not participating in hostilities, or who could be arrested without lethal force, constitutes intentional killing—a war crime in itself.
2- A Clear Violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Article 6 guarantees that “the right to life is inherent to every human being” and prohibits arbitrary deprivation of life.
In the Jenin case:
– No confrontation or actual threat existed
– No warning was issued
– The young men could have been peacefully arrested
Therefore, the use of lethal force was arbitrary, unjustified, and in violation of international standards.
3- Violation of UN Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms (1990)
These principles permit the use of lethal force only when strictly necessary to protect life from imminent threat.
The absence of any imminent danger in Jenin renders the shooting unlawful and contrary to all international norms.
4- Denial of Medical Aid
Preventing medical teams from reaching the wounded violates Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, which guarantees:
– Aid and medical care for the wounded
– Prohibition on leaving injured persons to bleed to death
This also constitutes a separate offense under the Rome Statute.
5- Withholding the Bodies
Seizing the bodies after the execution violates:
Article 130 of the Fourth Geneva Convention
Article 17 of Additional Protocol I, which obliges parties to respect and return the remains of the dead
This practice is a form of collective punishment, prohibited under international law.
In light of all the above, the events in Jenin constitute:
* Deliberate extrajudicial killing
* A grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention
* A complete war crime under Article 8 of the Rome Statute
* A potentially systematic act that may amount to a crime against humanity if proven part of a wider policy
The Union for Justice also reminds the public that hundreds of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip remain forcibly disappeared, with no information about their fate or places of detention, and no confirmation of whether they are alive or were killed and executed in similar circumstances.
The Union for Justice calls for the formation of an independent international investigation committee, the referral of extrajudicial execution cases to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and the imposition of sanctions on the Israeli military commanders responsible for the series of executions in Jenin.
End.
