‘War crime’: Outrage after Israel passes death penalty law for Palestinian prisoners

Human rights groups and Palestinian leaders have strongly denounced Israel’s new legislation approving the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners. 

‎In separate statements, the leaders and organizations called the measure a violation of international law and inherently discriminatory.

‎The Palestinian Authority described the bill as a “war crime” against Palestinians, saying it breaches the Fourth Geneva Convention.

‎‎The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the law as a “dangerous escalation.” In a social media post, the ministry stressed that “Israel has no sovereignty over Palestinian land” in the occupied territory.

‎“This law once again reveals the nature of the Israeli colonial system, which seeks to legitimize extrajudicial killing under legislative cover,” it said.

‎‎Hamas slammed the law as a “dangerous precedent that threatens the lives” of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

‎“This decision reaffirms the [Israeli] occupation and its leaders’ contempt for international law and their disregard for all humanitarian norms and conventions,” the group said in a statement, calling on the international community to take immediate action to protect Palestinian prisoners from Israel’s “brutality.”

‎Mustafa Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, warned on X that the legislation would target Palestinian political prisoners and activists.

‎“Proposing such an unjust and inhuman law reflects the depth of the fascist shift within the Israeli system, amid the international community’s failure to impose punitive measures against it,” he said.‎

‎The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), a Gaza-based rights organization, said on social media that it condemned the law “in the strongest terms.”

'Discriminatory by design': Israeli regime approves death penalty bill against Palestinians

The Israeli parliament has adopted a controversial bill that targets Palestinians purportedly convicted of killing Israeli settlers or soldiers with death penalty.

‎“This law targets Palestinians and entrenches Israel’s long-standing policy of extrajudicial execution under the guise of law, in clear violation of international human rights and humanitarian law,” the PCHR said.

‎The group called on the international community “to urgently intervene” in defense of Palestinian prisoners and warned that “silence and inaction will only further deepen impunity and erode the rules-based international order.”

‎The UN Human Rights Office in Palestine called on Israel to “immediately repeal the discriminatory death penalty law.”

‎“This law further entrenches Israel’s violation of the prohibition of racial segregation and apartheid as it will exclusively apply to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Israel, who are often convicted after unfair trials,” the office said on X.

‎Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Helen McEntee, condemned the bill in a statement, saying she was “particularly concerned about the de facto discriminatory nature of the Bill as it relates to Palestinians.”

‎“The right to life is a fundamental human right and Ireland is consistently and strongly opposed to the use of the death penalty in all cases and in all circumstances,” she said.

‎Hours before the law was passed, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani posted on social media that Italy, Germany, France and the United Kingdom had asked Israeli authorities to withdraw the bill.

‎The legislation, passed on Monday by Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, makes death by hanging the default punishment for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank convicted of deadly attacks.

‎The bill was approved by 62 lawmakers, including Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with 48 voting against and one abstention.

‎The developments come amid a surge in Israeli military and settler attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank, as well as thousands of arrests, against the backdrop of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

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