Israeli decision to execute Palestinian abductees reveals 'apartheid nature' of regime: Tehran

The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denounced the latest decision by the Israeli Knesset to pass a bill that allows military courts to hand down death sentences to Palestinian abductees, calling it a serious blow to international humanitarian law.

In a Wednesday statement, the ministry said that the bill "devised and adopted as part of the ongoing policy of genocide and colonial eradication of the Palestinian people, further exposes the apartheid and fascist nature of the Zionist regime and stands as evidence of the moral and human degradation of its policymakers and officials."

It condemned the measure as a "blatant violation of basic moral principles and the fundamentals of human rights and international humanitarian law," particularly the 1949 Geneva Conventions, and termed it a lethal blow to the system of international law, especially human rights and international law.

While emphasizing the basic right of Palestinians to self-determination and the establishment of a sovereign independent Palestinian state with al-Quds as its capital, the ministry reminded all governments, the United Nations, as well as legal and human rights bodies, of their legal and moral responsibility to adopt urgent action in order to end the Zionist regime's impunity and to stop its ongoing atrocities against Palestinians as well as other regional countries and nations.

It underlined that apathy and inaction in the face of Israel's lawlessness and acts of aggression will undoubtedly not only result in the continuation of gross violations of the fundamental rights of Palestinians, but will also push the entire West Asia region and the whole world toward growing insecurity.

‎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.

Additionally, the spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaeil Baghaei, condemned the Israeli Knesset's decision to execute Palestinian abductees as an "unprecedented blow to international humanitarian principles." 

In a post published on his X account on Wednesday, Baghaei wrote that "authorizing the execution of Palestinian prisoners constitutes an unprecedented assault on the foundational principles of International Humanitarian Law and the 1949 Geneva Conventions, particularly Common Article 3."

 He added that the step represents a shocking regression into barbarism and a return to the law of the jungle. 
"Does anyone still care to recognize the profound moral decay into which so-called 'human civilization' is rapidly descending — a decay driven by Israel's lawless & atrocious behavior?!" the senior Iranian diplomat questioned.

According to Israeli rights group B'Tselem, the conviction rate for Palestinians tried in military courts is about 96 percent, with convictions usually based on "confessions" obtained through "pressure and torture during interrogations."

Figures by Palestinian prisoner advocacy group Addameer show that over a third of the 9,500 Palestinians detained by Israel as of March 11 are being held under administrative detention without being tried.

International rights groups have warned that the bill, if turned into law, would make the death penalty "another discriminatory tool in Israel's system of apartheid."

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