Israel parliament passes death penalty law for Palestinians convicted of deadly 'terror' attacks
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Israel parliament passes death penalty law for Palestinians convicted of deadly 'terror' attacks")
File photo of Israel parliament Photograph: (Wikimedia commons)
Israel passes death penalty bill targeting Palestinians in terror cases, drawing criticism, legal challenges, and global concern over discrimination
Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, approved a controversial bill on Monday (March 30) allowing the execution of Palestinians convicted of deadly ‘terror’ attacks, sparking sharp criticism and an immediate legal challenge. A total of 62 lawmakers, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, supported the bill, while 48 opposed it. The legislation was promoted by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. Ahead of the vote, Ben Gvir wore a noose-shaped lapel pin to signal his backing. After its passage, he wrote on X: "We made history!!! We promised. We delivered."
The bill sets the death penalty, by hanging, as the default punishment for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank convicted by Israeli military courts of carrying out deadly attacks classified as terrorism. Sentences could be reduced to life imprisonment under “special circumstances.” Palestinians in the West Bank are tried in Israeli military courts, while Israeli citizens, including Palestinian citizens and East Jerusalem residents, are tried in civilian courts. The law also allows civilian courts to impose death or life sentences on anyone who kills with intent to harm Israel or end its existence. Executions would be carried out within 90 days of sentencing, extendable to 180 days.
Human rights groups swiftly condemned the law. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel filed a petition to the Supreme Court, arguing: “The law creates two parallel tracks, both designed to apply to Palestinians.” They added: "In military courts, which have jurisdiction over West Bank Palestinians, it establishes a near-mandatory death sentence," and said civilian provisions "structurally excludes Jewish perpetrators".
Opposition lawmaker Ram Ben Barak criticized the bill during debate: “Do you understand what it means that there is one law for Arabs in Judea and Samaria, and a different law for the general public for which the State of Israel is responsible?” He added: "It says that Hamas has defeated us. It has defeated us because we have lost all our values."
Supporters defended the move. Lawmaker Limor Son Har-Melech said: "For years, we endured a cruel cycle of terror, imprisonment, release in reckless deals, and the return of these human monsters to murder Jews again ... And today, my friends, this cycle has come full circle."
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The Palestinian Authority condemned the law, stating: "Israel has no sovereignty over Palestinian land" and calling it an attempt to legitimize "extrajudicial killing under legislative cover". Earlier, Amnesty International warned of its "discriminatory application against Palestinians", while the governments of the UK, France, Germany, and Italy expressed "deep concern" over its implications for democratic principles. Although Israel retains the death penalty for rare cases, it has not used it since the 1962 execution of Adolf Eichmann. The bill comes amid heightened tensions following the October 7 attacks and the ongoing Gaza war.
Death penalty law shows Israel's policy of 'killing': Hamas
Palestinian Islamist group Hamas said that the Israeli parliament's nod of a bill allowing the execution of Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks shows what it described as Israel's policy of ‘killing and terrorism’. The approval of the bill "reflects the bloody nature of the occupation and its policy based on killing and terrorism", Hamas said in a statement.
