Palestinian Territory – Disturbing testimonies have emerged indicating that the Israeli army killed a young civilian in the Gaza Strip for refusing to cooperate with the Israeli intelligence service. The Israeli army directly targeted Mohammed Iyad Tabasi on Tuesday morning (6 May 2025). Tabasi, a 24-year-old sanitary worker at a field hospital in the central Gaza town of Az-Zawayda, was targeted with a drone strike near the displacement camp where he was staying. According to the victim’s family, for nearly a month before his targeting, Israeli intelligence contacted Tabasi several times, requesting that he cooperate with them.
A family member of Tabasi, whose identity has been withheld by Euro-Med Monitor for safety reasons, said: “A month ago, Mohammed received a call from an unknown number. It wasn’t from a Palestinian network.”
Stated the family member: “On the other end was a man who said, ‘We want to help you with your marriage and provide money because we understand your difficult living conditions. Your father is unemployed, you bear the responsibility of covering household expenses, and your job as a hospital cleaner does not meet your family’s daily needs. We need your cooperation in providing the information we request.’”
They continued, “At first, Mohammed thought it was his friend in Egypt joking with him, so he started laughing and provoking the caller. However, the caller responded, ‘It’s an intelligence officer, you animal.’ At that point, Mohammed trembled in fear and hung up on him.” Tabasi received another call from the same number a week later, but did not answer. The individual called him twice more last Monday—the day before he was targeted—but he once again did not answer.
“[Tuesday] morning, around 11:00 am, Mohammed asked his sister to prepare breakfast,” Tabasi’s family member added. “When she returned with the food, Mohammed received a call, left the tent, and said he would be back after the call. Apparently, he was targeted for refusing to cooperate.”
“I saw Mohammed walking in front of me toward a dune opposite the camp while talking on the phone,” said a neighbour from the displacement camp. “About two minutes after he reached the top of the dune, we heard a bomb hit the area, followed by a loud explosion. When we left the tent, we saw smoke rising from the dune, so we rushed over. There, we found Mohammed lying on the sand, his lower body in pieces, and his phone shattered and burned.”
Another Tabasi family member said, “We saw Mohammed at the Jordanian Field Hospital in Khan Yunis. His body was dismembered, with his lower half completely missing—just bones and mangled flesh.”
According to the information collected by the Euro-Med Monitor team, the Israeli army’s killing of a young civilian in this manner constitutes an extrajudicial execution and a grave violation of international humanitarian law. As Tabasi was a civilian who worked a simple job and was unaffiliated with any militant or security groups, his targeting lacks military justification and suggests that his killing was purely motivated by revenge.
Targeting a young civilian for refusing to cooperate with occupation intelligence services or inform on members of his social environment who are simply trying to survive is further evidence of a dangerous pattern in which Israeli authorities use killing as a punitive measure against those who refuse to cooperate. This practice constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian law and the principle of special protection for civilians during conflict.
Euro-Med Monitor emphasises that this incident is not isolated, as the organisation has received numerous testimonies from families whose relatives were deliberately killed or targeted after refusing to cooperate with Israeli intelligence.
Field reports gathered by Euro-Med Monitor indicate that several Palestinian detainees who refused to cooperate with Israeli intelligence were extrajudicially killed after their release, with retaliatory attacks also targeting their family members, in a flagrant and systematic violation of international law. Released detainees, who requested anonymity due to safety concerns, told Euro-Med Monitor that they were explicitly threatened during interrogations with the killing of their family members if they did not cooperate. They were also shown fabricated images suggesting that their relatives were being targeted. After their release, they realised it was a deceptive scheme designed to force cooperation through coercion and fear.
Israeli security forces systematically blackmail Palestinian detainees during and after detention, forcing them to cooperate by threatening their freedom, their lives, and the lives of their families. This practice flagrantly violates international legal and ethical norms and represents a clear Israeli pattern of collective punishment and extrajudicial killing, not based on any posed threat but solely as a consequence of refusing to cooperate.
These actions against Palestinian civilians constitute full-fledged war crimes and crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Such crimes include killing, torture, persecution, inhumane acts causing severe physical or psychological suffering, and compelling protected persons—including prisoners and civilians—to serve or cooperate with the forces of a hostile state, are in clear violation of international humanitarian law.
The aforementioned crimes, as well as the targeting of victims’ family members or entire families, are part of a broader pattern of crimes committed by Israel against Palestinians. These actions reflect an escalating strategy aimed at dismantling Palestinian society and eroding its foundations, and are part of Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
All states and relevant parties must promptly conduct an independent investigation into these crimes and grave violations, taking all necessary legal measures to prosecute and hold accountable the Israeli leaders responsible.
Furthermore, all states, both individually and collectively, must fulfil their legal responsibilities by taking urgent action to stop the genocide in the Gaza Strip, through implementing effective measures to protect Palestinian civilians; ensuring Israel’s compliance with international law and the decisions of the International Court of Justice (ICJ); and holding Israel accountable for its crimes against the Palestinians. The International Criminal Court must reissue arrest warrants for the Israeli Prime Minister and Minister of Defence at the earliest opportunity, in accordance with the principle that there is no immunity for international crimes.
The international community must also impose economic, diplomatic, and military sanctions on Israel for its systematic and grave violations of international law. These sanctions should include an arms embargo; an end to all political, financial, and military support; freezing the assets of officials involved in crimes against Palestinians; imposing travel bans; and suspending trade privileges and bilateral agreements that provide Israel with economic benefits that enable its continued crimes.
Public prosecutors and countries with universal jurisdiction courts should promptly initiate criminal investigations into Israel’s crimes against Palestinian civilians and pursue legal action against those responsible. The governments of those countries must ensure judicial independence and provide support to facilitate justice without political or diplomatic interference. Additionally, local human rights organisations should support justice efforts, assist victims, and offer legal aid to file complaints before the competent judicial authorities.
In accordance with international law and the rulings of the ICJ, all states must advocate for international and United Nations fact-finding missions to enter the Gaza Strip, such as the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. These missions should conduct immediate, independent, and impartial investigations into all crimes committed by Israel against Palestinian civilians in the Strip.
The international community must fulfil its legal and moral obligations by addressing the harm caused by the serious crimes and gross violations committed by Israel and ensuring justice and compensation for Palestinian victims and their families.
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Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor is a Geneva-based independent organization with regional offices across the MENA region and Europe
