Save the Children denounces Israeli death penalty law targeting Palestinians, warns of threat to children

The international charity Save the Children has strongly condemned the death penalty bill recently passed by the Knesset, warning that it further dehumanises Palestinians, including children.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the organisation said Israel’s newly passed death penalty law contains no clear exemptions for children.

“Adding a discriminatory and irreversible death penalty to a system already known for abuse would be a brazen assault on the rights of Palestinian children,” Save the Children said.

The group called for the immediate withdrawal of the legislation.

“We refuse to accept a world where Palestinian children, or any children around the world, could be sentenced to death,” the charity added.

Separately, the UK Government also voiced opposition to the new law, though it has taken no meaningful action to pressure Israeli authorities to rescind it.

Under the new law, passed by the Knesset in March, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank convicted by military courts of carrying out "deadly attacks" will face the death penalty by default.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said in a recent statement that Israel’s death penalty law allowing the execution of Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks, perpetuates racial discrimination against them. The committee said the law represents a grave erosion of human rights.

The law is “de facto applicable to Palestinians only” and sets a 90-day deadline for executions once a final judgment is issued, the committee noted.

It further urged Israel to ensure that all Palestinian detainees are guaranteed equal treatment before the law, security of person, protection against violence or bodily harm, and access to justice.

The committee also called on Israel to end all policies and practices that amount to racial discrimination and segregation against Palestinians.

The committee urged other states to ensure their resources “are not used to enforce or support discriminatory policies and practices against Palestinians living in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and violence in the territory has sharply escalated since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023.

Since then, violence by Israeli forces and extremist settlers in the occupied West Bank has killed at least 1,155 Palestinians, wounded around 11,750, and led to the arrest of about 22,000.

A recent media report warned that the situation now endangers all Christians, Muslims and other non-Jews in the Palestinian capital, al-Quds, and across the occupied territories.

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