the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
December 8, 2025
This article is translated from the December 5 issue, #2992 of Lutte Ouvrière (Workers Struggle), the paper of the Trotskyist group of that name active in France.
Israeli soldiers were filmed on November 27 executing two Palestinians at point-blank range as they surrendered. This summary execution took place in the northern neighborhood of Jenin in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967.
The Israeli army and border police were conducting a large-scale military operation. The video circulated widely on social media and in media outlets worldwide. It clearly shows that the two Palestinians were unarmed and lying on the ground when they were killed. Israeli authorities had no choice but to announce an investigation. But it is highly unlikely that the three soldiers involved will be prosecuted. They were released very quickly and received the support of far-right Minister of National Security and head of the police Itamar Ben-Gvir. He declared on Twitter/X: “The fighters acted exactly as expected. Terrorists must die!”
Israeli soldiers are well aware that they enjoy near-total impunity when they brutalize or murder Palestinians. Based on statistics from 2018 to 2022, the Israeli Palestinian rights organization Yesh Din (“There Is Law”) calculated that the probability of an Israeli soldier being prosecuted for killing Palestinians was only 0.4%. The situation has worsened since the outbreak of the Gaza war after October 7, 2023.
The Israeli army is also waging a full-blown war in the West Bank. Military operations have followed one after another: “Summer Camps,” launched at the end of August 2024, followed by “Iron Wall,” which began on January 21, a few days after the announcement of a temporary ceasefire in Gaza. Deploying ground troops, tanks, drones, aircraft, and combat helicopters, these operations have targeted Palestinian refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams in the northern West Bank. As in Gaza, the aim is to destroy houses and force people to flee. The homes of more than 32,000 Palestinians have been destroyed by bulldozers. They have been displaced and forbidden even from returning to retrieve belongings abandoned in the rush.
These three camps were created in the early 1950s by UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, to accommodate those who had been forced to flee after the creation of Israel in 1948. Using the same methods as 80 years ago, the Israeli government is now carrying out a veritable ethnic cleansing in the West Bank.
The Israeli army supports acts by Jewish settlers who feel emboldened to attack Palestinians. Settlers engage in all kinds of violence and abuse to force Palestinians to abandon their land. A U.N. agency recorded 264 attacks by settlers in October alone, an average of eight per day. This set a record after nearly two decades of data collection. More than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, many of them civilians, have been killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers since October 7, 2023.
Trump has stated his opposition to the annexation of the West Bank. But by supporting Netanyahu and his far-right ministers, he encourages them to continue their policy of expelling Palestinians and expanding settlements. This paves the way for further territorial annexations. For the Palestinians and for all the peoples of the region—including Israelis—this can only mean the continuation of endless and intractable war.