Bill allowing death penalty for Palestinian prisoners advances to Israeli parliament

An Israeli panel approved a bill introducing the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners on Monday, paving the way for its first reading in parliament.

The proposal, tabled by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir's far-right Jewish Power party, would allow Israeli courts to impose the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis on "nationalistic grounds".

The legislation does not apply to Israelis who kill Palestinians under similar circumstances.

The bill has been promoted by far-right Israeli parties since before the genocide on Gaza began in October 2023, with renewed calls for its passage in recent months.

Israeli security officials had previously opposed the measure, warning that it could endanger Israeli captives held by Palestinian factions in Gaza.

However, following the release of all surviving captives by Hamas last month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave the green light for the bill to move forward, according to Prisoners and Missing Persons Coordinator Gal Hirsch, who addressed the committee before the vote on Monday.

He said the earlier objections had "become irrelevant".

Hirsch added that the bill was "a tool in the toolbox that allows us to fight terror and secure the release of hostages", according to Israeli media reports.

The bill could have its first of three readings in Israel's parliament, the Knesset, as soon as Wednesday. 

Ben Gvir, a leading advocate of the legislation, thanked Netanyahu for his support.

"I thank the prime minister for his support for Jewish Power's bill for the death penalty for terrorists," he wrote on X.

However, he stressed that courts should have no discretion in sentencing, saying: "Every terrorist who goes out to murder must know that the death penalty will be imposed on him."

'Fascist measure'

Hamas condemned the move, saying the bill "embodies the ugly fascist face of the rogue Zionist occupation".

It called for "the formation of international committees to enter Israeli prisons and examine the conditions of Palestinian detainees".

The Palestinian Center for Prisoners' Advocacy, a Gaza-based NGO, said the bill "constitutes an Israeli war crime" and warned of its repercussions.

"The consequences of this fascist measure will be even more violent, dragging the entire region into a new cycle of chaos whose outcome no one can predict," the rights group added. 

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Since October 2023, Israel has arbitrarily seized thousands of Palestinians from both the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.

At least 10,000 people are currently being held in Israeli prisons, although the actual number is believed to be higher, as Israel has restricted information about the whereabouts of many detainees.

Israel has also blocked visits by lawyers and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) since October 2023.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said last week that he had ordered a ban on ICRC visits to Palestinian prisoners held under the controversial "unlawful combatants" law, most of whom were seized from Gaza.

Human rights groups report that Israeli authorities have systematically used widespread torture against Palestinian prisoners since that time, resulting in the deaths of at least 80 detainees.

Documented forms of torture include physical assaults, rape, deprivation of food and sleep, denial of medical care, insults, humiliation and other forms of abuse.

These torture practices have been widely reported by eyewitnesses, non-governmental organisations and United Nations independent experts.

According to Palestinian prisoner rights groups, of the total number of Palestinian prisoners, nearly half are held without charge or trial for indefinitely extendable periods, including 3,500 held as administrative detainees and over 2,600 as "unlawful combatants".