By Elham Asaad Buaras
London, (The Muslim News): Israeli forces executed two Palestinian men in the West Bank city of Jenin on Thursday evening, despite the pair having surrendered, according to eyewitnesses and video footage circulating on social media. Meanwhile, UN peacekeeping mission (UNIFIL) reported on Thursday that it had recorded more than 10,000 Israeli air and ground violations in Lebanon since a November 2024 ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah.
A widely shared video clip shows Israeli soldiers firing at point-blank range at the two young men after they raised their hands in surrender. Local sources told Anadolu Agency that the killings took place in the Jabal Abu Dhahir neighbourhood during a large-scale Israeli raid across the area.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the victims as Muntasir Qassem Abdullah, 26, and Youssef Assa’sa, 37, adding that Israeli forces later withheld their bodies. Jenin Governor Kamal Abu al-Rub said Israeli troops “did not allow anyone to approach the scene and prevented ambulances from evacuating the two young men.” He added, “The two young men raised their hands to the army, but soldiers opened fire on them.”
The Israeli military issued a brief statement claiming that it had launched a field investigation into the circumstances of the incident.
The killings occurred as the Israeli army intensified its latest large-scale operation in the northern occupied West Bank, focusing on Jenin and Tubas. The assault comes alongside Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, where nearly 70,000 Palestinians have been killed. In the West Bank, assaults by soldiers and illegal settlers have resulted in the deaths of at least 1,083 Palestinians, with around 11,000 injured and more than 20,500 detained, according to official Palestinian figures.
In July, the International Court of Justice issued a landmark advisory opinion declaring Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and calling for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Amnesty International expressed alarm at the scale of the new West Bank offensive, saying it is “gravely concerned” by Israel’s actions. “Similar previous operations have already forcibly displaced thousands of Palestinians from the refugee camps of Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur Shams,” the organisation wrote on social media, describing the current assault as part of “Israel’s cruel system of apartheid against Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.
Tensions escalated further on Thursday evening when an Israeli soldier, who was off duty, opened fire on Palestinians near a military checkpoint south of East Jerusalem. Israeli police said the soldier disembarked from a public bus before shooting and injuring one Palestinian. No Israeli injuries were reported. Israel’s public broadcaster KAN said the victim was believed to be in critical condition.
In the northern West Bank, witnesses reported that the Israeli army broadened its offensive in Jenin and Tubas on Thursday, deploying helicopters in several attacks. Israeli forces surrounded a house in the Abu Dhahir neighbourhood of Jenin, storming the building and arresting at least one person. Witnesses said large numbers of infantry and special forces units were deployed, with a military helicopter hovering overhead for support. Helicopters reportedly opened fire during their flights over Jenin, targeting multiple locations.
In Tubas, Israeli aircraft flew at low altitude over the town of Tammoun, firing towards open areas and conducting extensive house raids and field searches.
Medical teams said children were among the latest casualties. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported treating two children shot in the thigh in Jenin camp, while another Palestinian was injured by Israeli fire in Idhna, near Hebron.
Since the start of the Tubas offensive on Wednesday, Israeli forces have arrested 119 Palestinians, though more than 50 were subsequently released, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society and the Red Cross. At least 25 Palestinians have been injured during the assault.
OVER 10,000 ISRAELI VIOLATIONS SINCE 2024 CEASEFIRE
In neighbouring Lebanon, the UN peacekeeping mission (UNIFIL) reported on Thursday that it had recorded more than 10,000 Israeli air and ground violations since a November 2024 ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah.
Marking the first anniversary of the ceasefire, UNIFIL stressed that adherence to UN Security Council Resolution 1701 “in both letter and spirit” remains the only viable path to long-term stability along the Blue Line, the de facto border separating Lebanon and Israel.
The mission said that over the past year, peacekeepers have continued patrolling the region, supporting the Lebanese army’s redeployment, assisting in clearing hazards, and helping maintain security south of the Litani River. Despite these efforts, “challenges remain,” including the presence of unauthorised weapons and Israel’s continued maintenance of military positions inside Lebanese territory.
UNIFIL emphasised that civilians on both sides “have suffered greatly because of this conflict,” underscoring the need to prioritise their safety and the region’s stability.
The ceasefire, reached on 27 November 2024 after more than a year of cross-border fighting that escalated into a full-scale offensive by Israel in September 2024, resulted in more than 4,000 deaths and 17,000 injuries in Lebanon. Under the agreement, Israel was expected to withdraw fully from southern Lebanon by January 2025. Instead, it conducted only a partial withdrawal and continues to occupy five border outposts.
ISRAELI AIRSTRIKES ACROSS LEBANON DESPITE CEASEFIRE
Despite the ceasefire, Israel has carried out 699 airstrikes across Lebanon over the past year, according to a report released on Thursday by the Alma Research and Education Centre, an Israeli security institute.
The report found that nearly half of all Israeli airstrikes (47%) pounded areas south of the Litani River, while just over a third (38.4%) hit regions to the north; a further one in eight strikes targeted the Bekaa Valley, and only a small fraction, around 1.6% or 11 attacks, reached Beirut and its surrounding districts.
Most attacks occurred in the initial months of the ceasefire, averaging roughly 51 strikes per month, with December 2024 and March 2025 recording the highest numbers. Alma claimed that 218 Hezbollah operatives were killed during these strikes.
The report also stated, “At this stage, no permanent, continuous, or significant Hezbollah presence or activity is identified along the contact line.”
On Thursday, the first anniversary of the ceasefire, Israeli warplanes launched new airstrikes in southern Lebanon, targeting the towns of Mahmoudiya and Jarmak in the Iqlim al-Tuffah area, according to Lebanon’s state-run NNA news agency. No casualty figures were immediately available. Israeli broadcaster KAN claimed the strikes targeted sites allegedly used for Hezbollah weapons storage. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah or Lebanese authorities.
The ceasefire initially brought an end to more than a year of escalating hostilities following the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023. However, Israel’s failure to fully withdraw from southern Lebanon and its continued airstrikes have raised concerns about the stability and longevity of the agreement.
[Photo: Search operations for missing persons due to Israeli bombings continue in the southern Lebanese town of Kfar Kila, one year after the ceasefire, as Lebanese and International Red Cross teams comb through debris and inaccessible areas affected by the clashes, on November 27, 2025. Photojournalist: Ramiz Dallah/AA]
