Some moments freeze you in your tracks.
I was scrolling late the other night when the clip appeared, just twelve seconds long, yet it hit harder than any hour-long documentary ever could. Two men step out of a darkened doorway, shirts pulled up to their chests to prove they’re unarmed, hands trembling in the air. Then gunfire. Both collapse. The soldiers around them don’t even flinch. It felt less like a military operation and more like an execution caught on someone’s phone.
That footage, recorded in the restive city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, has since spread like wildfire and reignited a painfully familiar debate: where exactly is the line between self-defense and cold-blooded killing?
What Actually Happened in Jenin That Day
Here’s the sequence of events, pieced together from multiple accounts while trying to stay as close to verifiable facts as possible.
Early Thursday morning, Israeli border police and army units surrounded a building in Jenin where two Palestinian men had reportedly barricaded themselves after an earlier exchange of fire. According to military statements, the pair had hurled explosives and shot at security forces in previous weeks, making them “wanted individuals.”
What followed was described as a lengthy “surrender procedure.” Engineering tools, possibly small controlled charges or a robot, were used to force the men out. Hours later, the two emerged. Video shows them walking slowly, complying with shouted instructions, lifting clothing to show they carried nothing. Then, almost immediately, they were shot.
Both men, later named as 26-year-old Mahmoud Qassem Abdallah and 37-year-old Youssef Asasa, died on the spot.
The Official Israeli Explanation
Within hours the military had a story ready.
- The men had “acted contrary to instructions.
- One of them made a sudden movement back toward the building.
- Fearing a suicide belt or hidden weapon, soldiers opened fire.
- The incident is now under review by commanders and will be forwarded to the relevant investigative bodies.
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister went further, publicly praising the troops: “Terrorists have to die,” he posted online, offering “full backing” to the officers involved.
“The troops acted precisely as is expected of them.”
Israeli National Security Minister
Why Many Are Calling It an Execution
Critics, including Israeli human-rights organizations and prominent journalists inside the country, aren’t buying the official line, and the video is the reason.
In the footage, the two men do not run. They do not lower their hands. They do not reach for anything. One appears to stumble slightly, perhaps from exhaustion after hours inside, but nothing that looks remotely like the “suspicious movement” later described. The shots ring out almost the instant both are fully visible.
Perhaps the most chilling detail? None of the surrounding soldiers react as if they’re in danger. No one dives for cover. No one shouts warnings. It looks, for all the world, routine.
“There is no universe in which this is not murder.”
Israeli journalist covering the scene
A Pattern or an Isolated Tragedy?
Anyone who has followed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for more than a news cycle knows these incidents don’t happen in a vacuum.
Human-rights monitors have documented dozens of cases over the past two decades where Palestinians were shot in circumstances that later proved highly questionable, often with the same post-incident script: the person was about to carry out an attack, moved suspiciously, or ignored orders shouted in Hebrew by troops who provided no translation.
In many of those earlier cases, body-camera or civilian footage eventually contradicted the army’s version. Investigations, when they happened at all, rarely led to prosecution. The few convictions that did occur typically resulted in light sentences.
I’ve watched this cycle long enough to feel a sinking familiarity every time another video surfaces. The outrage flares, statements are issued, an investigation is “opened,” and then… silence.
The Broader Context Nobody Can Ignore
Jenin has been a flashpoint for years. Israeli raids into the camp are near-nightly occurrences now, usually aimed at arresting or neutralizing suspected militants. Palestinian fighters there have carried out deadly attacks inside Israel, providing the army with a justification locals increasingly dismiss as collective punishment.
Since October 2023, more than 700 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, according to monitoring groups, the majority during military raids or clashes. Israeli losses in the same period are far lower but still tragic for the families affected.
When surrender itself becomes deadly, it erodes whatever trust might still exist between occupier and occupied. Young men in Jenin now openly say they would rather die fighting than risk walking out with their hands up.
What International Law Actually Says
Let’s be clinical for a moment.
Under the Geneva Conventions and established rules of engagement, a person who has surrendered, hors de combat, is protected. Shooting them constitutes a war crime, full stop. The only exception is if they pose an imminent lethal threat, something the available video evidence makes difficult to argue here.
Even if the men had been involved in violence earlier that day, once they are complying and clearly unarmed, lethal force becomes unlawful. That principle isn’t Palestinian or Israeli; it’s universal.
Where Do We Go From Here?
The army says the incident is under review. History suggests that review will be internal, slow, and most likely end with the soldiers exonerated.
But this time feels different. The video is simply too clear, the public reaction inside Israel itself unusually sharp. Veterans’ groups, journalists, even some politicians are demanding accountability.
Whether that demand turns into anything concrete remains to be seen. What is certain is that every incident like this chips away at moral credibility, fuels the next round of violence, and makes the faint hope of coexistence feel even fainter.
Sometimes twelve seconds is all it takes to remind the world how far we still have to go.
