The West Bank shut down Wednesday in a general strike that paralyzed schools, transport, banks and government offices, as Palestinians protested a newly approved Israeli law allowing the death penalty for prisoners. Palestinian factions desribed the law as “a dangerous escalation aimed at legalizing the killing of prisoners inside jails.”
The law mandates execution by hanging for crimes Israeli law classifies as “terrorist,” even if prosecutors do not request the penalty. It also bars sentence reductions or pardons and requires executions to be carried out within 90 days of a final ruling.
The strike halted classes at schools and universities, including online learning, and disrupted public transport and most shops in major cities. Banks and financial institutions closed, government employees joined the stoppage, and the Lawyers Syndicate in the West Bank also suspended work in line with the strike, according to the Palestinian Information Center.
The shutdown underscored the depth of Palestinian opposition to the law, which was approved by the Knesset on Monday evening by 62 votes to 48. It is expected to face a challenge before the Supreme Court over its constitutionality.
On the ground, the streets of major cities including Ramallah, Hebron, Jenin and Nablus were nearly empty from early morning, while public rallies and protest marches took place in city centers around midday in rejection of the law.
In Ramallah, a march called by Fatah, political and Islamic movements, and prisoner advocacy groups moved through central streets in protest against the law. Participants chanted slogans condemning the law and called on the international community to intervene to stop Israeli abuses against prisoners, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Nasser Abu Jaish, a member of the Palestinian factions’ coordination committee, said the general strike was “a unified national message confirming that the prisoners’ cause will remain at the top of priorities, and that all sections of the Palestinian people categorically reject this racist law.”
Abu Jaish warned, in remarks to the Palestinian Information Center, of the consequences of the law for the lives of thousands of prisoners, especially given what they are already facing in continued abuses.
He said broad participation in the strike across West Bank governorates “reflects a real state of national consensus and confirms the unity of the popular and factional position in confronting that law.”
The actions rejecting the law will not be limited to Wednesday’s events in West Bank cities, Abu Jaish said, adding that they will continue in the coming days. “The general strike will not be the last step, but part of a broader campaign of grassroots and faction-led action confronting the law,” he said.
Fatah, which had called for Wednesday’s general strike, said in a Telegram statement the measure “will not break the will of our people, but will only increase our determination to continue the struggle,” expressing strong condemnation and outright rejection of the law following its approval by the Knesset.
The movement also called for broad Palestinian mobilization and stronger Arab and international efforts to pressure for the law’s repeal and hold the occupation accountable for ongoing crimes against the Palestinian people.
The bill was put forward by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir as part of coalition agreements with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party in late 2022, gaining momentum after October 7 and receiving preliminary approval in late 2025.
The legislation creates two parallel judicial tracks. In the West Bank, military courts would be given the authority to sentence Palestinians to death in cases of “premeditated murder” classified as terrorism. Inside Israel and occupied East Jerusalem, civil courts would be granted expanded authority to apply the penalty in cases involving “undermining the state,” an ideological standard that rights groups say targets Palestinians alone.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Tuesday urged Israel to repeal the law, which he called inconsistent with Israel’s international legal obligations. He further warned that its “application in a discriminatory manner would constitute an additional, particularly egregious violation of international law. Its application to residents of the occupied Palestinian territory would constitute a war crime.”
