Video shows Israeli soldiers execute 2 Palestinians as they surrender in West Bank raid, rights group says

Israeli human rights group B'Tselem shared a video on Thursday that it says shows Israeli soldiers executing two Palestinian men who had surrendered during a raid in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The video, which B'Tselem credits to Palestine TV and which CBS News has not independently verified, appears to show Israeli soldiers surrounding a garage-style door on a building as two men emerge with their hands in the air. The men can be seen lifting their shirts and kneeling on the ground as the soldiers approach. 

One of the soldiers kicks one of the men before both men start moving back into the building through the large open door, seemingly at the orders of the soldiers. Gunshots are then heard, and one of the men still visible in the doorway can be seen slumping to the floor.

B'Tselem identified the two men as Yusef 'Asa'sah, 39, and al-Muntaser bel-lah 'Abdallah, 26, both of whom the group said were wanted by the Israel Defense Forces.

The IDF acknowledged an operation to apprehend wanted individuals in Jenin on Thursday, saying the men had "carried out terror activities, including hurling explosives and firing at security forces."

"The forces entered the area, enclosed the structure in which the suspects were located, and initiated a surrender procedure that lasted several hours. Following the use of engineering tools on the structure, the two suspects exited. Following their exit, fire was directed toward the suspects," the IDF said in a statement shared with CBS News. "The incident is under review by the commanders on the ground, and will be transferred to the relevant professional bodies."

Israeli security forces have been accused on many occasions since the war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack of using excessive, often lethal force against Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank. 

Israel's far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the national police, praised the Israeli forces after the release of the video showing the Thursday incident, saying they acted "exactly as they are expected to — terrorists must die!"

The executive director of B'Tselem, Yuli Novak, said the killings were the result of "an accelerated process of dehumanization of Palestinians and the complete abandonment of their lives by the Israeli regime."

In the West Bank's capital city Ramallah, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas' office issued a statement accusing Israel of executing the two men "in cold blood," blasting the shooting as "an outright extrajudicial killing in blatant violation of international humanitarian law."