Palestinian factions called for escalated resistance and protests, amid anger following the Israeli parliament’s approval of a new law Monday allowing the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners.
The law marks a major escalation in Israel’s treatment of Palestinian prisoners at a time of mounting violence in the occupied West Bank, a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, and growing regional tensions. Opponents say it deepens discriminatory policies against Palestinians and could trigger wider unrest on multiple fronts.
Israel’s newly approved Death Penalty for Terrorists Law introduces sweeping changes to sentencing in both its civilian and military legal systems, particularly for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
The law mandates execution by hanging for killings classified as “terrorism” under Israeli law, even if prosecutors do not seek it, prohibits commutation or pardon, and requires executions within 90 days of a final ruling.
The legislation creates two parallel legal tracks. In the occupied West Bank, military courts are empowered to sentence Palestinians to death for deliberate killings deemed terrorist acts.
In Israel and illegally annexed East Jerusalem, civilian courts are granted expanded powers to apply the death penalty in cases involving killings carried out with the intent of undermining the state, an ideological criterion that effectively targets Palestinians.
The law was adopted by a vote of 62-48 in the Knesset. Its next step could be a legal challenge before the Supreme Court over its constitutionality.
The bill was put forward by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of the Jewish Power party, as part of coalition agreements with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party in late 2022, gaining momentum after October 7 and received preliminary approval in late 2025.
“We made history. From now on, every mother in Judea and Samaria will know that if her son goes out to murder, his fate will be the gallows,” Ben-Gvir stated.
Critics and rights groups say the law constitutes a significant escalation in policies discriminating against Palestinians. “The wording of the bill makes it clear that it would primarily, if not exclusively, be applied to Palestinians,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Tuesday.
Convictions rates for Palestinians in Israeli military courts are 99%, according to Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, while accountability for settler violence against Palestinians remains exceedingly rare.
The Palestinian Foreign Affairs Ministry condemned the law in a statement that the law amounts to institutionalized, racially driven execution and signals intent to commit further war crimes, with direct repercussions for Palestinian prisoners.
Extreme escalation
Opponents and human rights groups say the law legitimizes Israel’s historical practice of carrying out systematic executions against Palestinians prisoners, including unlawful killings, as part of a broader policy of repression, with perpetrators escaping accountability.
If enacted, the law would break with Israel’s long-standing de facto abolition of the death penalty and, amid escalating abuses since Oct. 7, 2023 amount to a grave, racially targeted threat to Palestinian lives, according to Israeli human rights groups.
Israeli forces have detained thousands of Palestinians during the war, and prisoners’ exchanges have been a central component of ceasefire negotiations and Hamas’ release of Israelis captured on Oct. 7, 2023.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners Society, over 9,500 Palestinian and Arab prisoners are held in Israeli prisons and detention camps. More than 100 Palestinian detainees have died in custody since the start of the Gaza war.
Reports over the years have documented widespread torture, systematic starvation policies, medical crimes, and sexual assaults, in addition to a series of crimes of deprivation, dispossession, abuse and humiliation, and inhumane detention conditions that violate human dignity.
Dangerous repercussions
Hamas said in a statement posted to Telegram Monday, that the law sets a dangerous precedent that threatens the lives of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody. Along with other resistance factions, Hamas urged Palestinians to mobilize and protest across the West Bank, Jerusalem, Israel and the diaspora.
The vote went ahead despite earlier European diplomatic pressure urging Israel to ease measures affecting Palestinians. “We are particularly worried about the de facto discriminatory character of the bill,” Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom said in a joint statement Sunday ahead of the vote.
“There is a national sentiment of great anger over here, with factions, activists and politicians constantly convening and preparing to confront the policy,” Ashraf Okkeh, a Ramallah-based Palestinian expert in International Relations, told Al Manassa.
Okkeh warned the decision could act as a flashpoint, undermining de-escalation efforts and potentially reigniting clashes in the West Bank, as well as raising the risk of escalation involving Hamas and Hezbollah, including attempts to capture Israeli soldiers.
