Two Palestinian terror suspects were shot dead by Border Police officers after surrendering to them in the West Bank city of Jenin on Thursday in an incident caught on camera and later confirmed by officials.
The Israel Defense Forces and Israel Police said an investigation had been launched into the incident, after videos emerged showing the two suspects exiting a building with their hands raised before they were killed.
The deceased, identified by Palestinian media as 26-year-old Mahmoud Qassem Abdallah and 37-year-old Youssef Asasa, were wanted by Israel on suspicion of involvement in bombing and shooting attacks against troops.
The IDF said the pair were members of a terror network based in Jenin. Images circulating online showed one of the men brandishing firearms, indicating his affiliation with an armed group.
In a joint statement, the military and police said the planned arrest of the terror suspects took place during an ongoing counter-terrorism operation in Jenin.
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“The forces entered the area, encircled a structure in which the suspects were located, and initiated a surrender procedure that lasted several hours,” the military and police said, adding that after using heavy machinery to knock down part of the structure, the two suspects exited.
جيش الاحتلال يعدم شابين بعد اعتقالهما في محيط مخيم جنين#قناة_الغد pic.twitter.com/4EhXlZXi2b
— قناة الغد (@AlGhadTV) November 27, 2025
“After they exited the building, shots were fired at the wanted persons,” the statement said.
The IDF and police said that the “incident is under review by the commanders on the ground, and will be transferred to the relevant authorities for examination.”
It was unclear whether a criminal investigation would be launched into the incident, either by the Military Police or the Department of Internal Police Investigations.
أعدمهما الاحتلال بدم بارد واحتجز جثمانيهما..
الشهيدان في منطقة ابو ظهير في جنين شمالي الضفة الغربية وهما:
المنتصر بالله محمود قاسم عبد الله (26 عامًا)
يوسف علي يوسف عصاعصة (37 عامًا) pic.twitter.com/KlAuMXEcNG
— ساحات ???????? (@Sa7atPl) November 27, 2025
The Border Police officers involved in the incident claimed that the suspects had not followed their instructions.
“When the terrorists came out [of the building], we began carrying out security procedures on them. We didn’t know whether they had weapons or any kind of explosive device. We started instructing them on what to do, and the terrorists acted against the orders they were given,” the officers were quoted by Army Radio as saying
“At a certain point, one of the terrorists decided to go back inside the building against the instructions, and the second terrorist followed him, and therefore both were shot,” they added.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir publicly backed the troops involved, posting on X: “Lending full backing to the Border Police and IDF troops who shot at wanted terrorists… The troops acted precisely as is expected of them — terrorists have to die!”
While Ben Gvir oversees the police, Border Police operating in the West Bank fall under the military’s jurisdiction.
The incident came amid a large-scale IDF operation in the northern West Bank, targeting several Palestinian towns and villages, including Tubas, Tammun, and al-Aqaba. The military said the raids are aimed at disrupting efforts by Palestinian terror groups to establish a presence in the region.
On Thursday morning, the military said Israeli Air Force helicopters struck several targets in the northern West Bank in support of ground troops amid the ongoing raids. No casualties were reported in the strikes.
Israeli soldiers are seen during an army raid in the West Bank town of Tubas, November 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
In the wake of the incident, the Palestinian Authority accused Israeli forces of deliberately committing war crimes when they shot and killed the two men in Jenin.
Ramallah “strongly condemns the brutal field executions carried out by the Israeli occupation army against two Palestinian youths,” the PA foreign ministry said, calling the incident a “deliberate Israeli war crime.”
The incident was condemned inside Israel as well, by Hadash-Ta’al chair Ayman Odeh, who shared the video footage on X.
“This is an execution,” wrote the leader of the Arab-majority Knesset party. “We must not call this an ‘unusual event,’ these are not ‘bad apples,’ and there are not and will not be procedures to ‘refine.’”
“The death penalty law for Palestinians has not yet been approved, but it has been enforced, for a long time,” he added, referring to the controversial bill that passed its first reading in the Knesset last week that would introduce capital punishment for terror, but only for Palestinians.
Violence in the West Bank has surged since Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023. According to the Palestinian Authority, over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers since then. The IDF has said that most of those killed were gunmen, rioters clashing with troops or terrorists carrying out attacks.
Attacks by settler extremists have also risen sharply. The IDF has recorded more than 752 incidents of settler violence in the West Bank since the start of the year, surpassing the 675 incidents recorded in 2024.
International pressure grows
News of the shooting in Jenin followed a joint statement issued by Germany, Italy, France, and the United Kingdom, urging Israel to abide by international law and protect Palestinians in the West Bank.
“We – France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom – strongly condemn the massive increase of settler violence against Palestinian civilians and call for stability in the West Bank,” said the foreign ministers of those countries in the statement.
Israeli security forces clash with settlers during the evacuation of the illegal outpost of Tzur Misgavi, in the Gush Etzion area of the West Bank, November 17, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
They also called on Israel to reverse plans to build new housing units in the E1 settlement bloc and to restore withheld tax revenues to the PA, warning that weakening the PA would undermine regional stability and Israel’s own security.
Additionally, they reiterated their support for a two-state solution to Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians.
Israel has rejected any role for the PA in governing post-war Gaza, though it has also indicated support for US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan, which suggests a role for the body after reforms are made.