Summary execution of Fathi Khazem ‘Abu Raad' in his home

On Augustus 21, 2026, overnight, an Israeli special forces invaded the home of Fathi Khazem, in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, shot and killed him in front of the very eyes of his 12 y/o son, before seizing his body.

Fhati Khazem was a prominent Palestinian symbol of resistance who lost two of his sons, in 2022. The first one, Raad Khazem, after he has perpetrated a shoting attack on Israeli civilians in Tel Aviv, the other one when their family home was targeted by a misile during an Israeli revenge raid.

Medical and local sources confirmed that Israeli forces shot and killed Fathi Khazem directly inside his home after he resisted an abduction attempt. The attack took place during a military raid in the al-Masarwa neighbourhood of central Jenin.

Mondoweiss investigation:

Early Friday, 21 August, Israeli soldiers raided Fathi Khazem’s apartment in the al-Masarwa neighborhood of Jenin. He was there with his 12-year-old son, Adam. Before entering, soldiers had reportedly forcibly taken a young man from the neighborhood and used him as a human shield. They then blew open the apartment’s front door and stormed inside. Soldiers ordered Khazem to raise his hands, remove his clothes and kneel. Khazem refused to kneel and reportedly said: “Who are you that I should kneel before you?” A verbal confrontation followed. According to Adam and the young man used as a human shield, soldiers then began beating Khazem inside the apartment. Family members told Mondoweiss that Khazem attempted to defend himself, after which soldiers shot him at point-blank range. His 12-year-old son witnessed the execution. Adam and the young man were then confined in the bathroom and forced to strip completely. The young man, who understood Hebrew, said he overheard soldiers discussing whether they should kill him and Adam as well. Khazem's brother Amin said eyewitnesses saw Fathi being shot even after he had already been wounded, describing the killing as a “premeditated crime” and “deliberate assassination.

Testimony of relative

Speaking about Adam’s condition, another member of the family, Adam’s maternal uncle, told Mondoweiss the 12-year-old remains in severe psychological distress. “Imagine a 12-year-old boy watching his father being killed before his eyes, then stripped of his clothes and locked in a bathroom with a man he doesn’t even know,” the uncle said. “Up until this moment, Adam hasn’t cried or shed a single tear.”

He added that Adam was deeply attached to his father and accompanied him everywhere. When he saw Israeli soldiers assaulting his father and opening fire, he ran toward them and held up his father’s ID card, hoping they would stop. Instead, they shot his father in the chest and head in front of his eyes.

Broader context:

Fathi Khazem’s name emerged in April 2022 after his son Raad carried out a shooting attack in Tel Aviv, killing 3 and injuring 6 Israeli civilians, and was subsequentely killed by the Israeli army. In the few hours that followed the killing of his son, Fathi, called “Abu Raad”, went out to receive the crowds of mourners, addressing them loudly and in defiance of the Israeli occupation, declaring his determination to continue resisting Israel until the liberation of Palestine.

The Israeli forces had stormed Jenin camp multiple times in the attempt to reach him, including destroying his house (on September 6, 2022) and asking him to surrender himself to them. Abu Raad had never handed himself in.

Israel Hayom published a full report on Fathi Khazem 'Abu Raad', titled “The Birth of a New Hero,” commenting on his ability to command the respect of the broad Palestinian public, which “sees him as a leader.”

On September 28, 2022, an Israeli special forces unit killed his son, Abdul Rahman Khazem, in a revenge operation against his slain brother, and his father, who had been pursued by the Israeli occupation forces since April 2022. In the same attack, Ahmad Alawneh, 24 years old and worked as a Palestinian Authority (PA) intelligence officer, was killed and his body desecreted by Israeli soldiers. Abdul Khazem and Ahmad Alawneh, were killed when Hazem’s father’s home was hit by a missile. The army then proceeded to encircle the home, during which heavy armed clashes broke out with several Palestinian fighters.

His daughter Shaimaa has reportedly been held under administrative detention for more than a year.

According to his brother, a Palestinian Authority-brokered understanding with Israel had supposedly guaranteed that Israel would no longer pursue or arrest Fathi, provided he stayed out of public life, left Jenin and made no public statements.