Israel Knesset panel advances bill to execute Palestinian prisoners

An Israeli parliamentary committee has advanced a bill to allow the execution of Palestinian prisoners.

Under the bill, judges would be able to impose the death penalty on Palestinians who kill Israelis based on so-called “nationalistic” motives.

The law would not apply to Israelis who kill Palestinians under similar circumstances.

The bill - introduced by Limor Son Har-Melech, a lawmaker from Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party - was approved on Sunday by the Knesset’s National Security Committee, with four lawmakers voting in favour and one against.

The vote paves the way for the bill to be brought to the first of three votes in the parliament, or Knesset, before it can become law.

Palestinian prisoners' rights groups - the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club - described the bill as an “unprecedented act of savagery”.

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