Hamas: Israeli bill to execute Palestinian prisoners 'attempt to legitimise mass murder'

Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas on Tuesday said that ratifying the law to execute Palestinian prisoners is "an extension of the racist Zionist approach and an attempt to legitimise mass murder against our people".

Hamas called the Israeli bill a "dangerous criminal escalation within the systematic extermination and ethnic cleansing against" Palestinian people.

The Israeli Knesset advanced a bill to impose the death penalty on Palestinian prisoners convicted of killing Israelis on "nationalistic grounds".

In the first reading, 39 members approved the bill, while 16 others opposed it. 

A bill must pass the third and final level of voting by a simple majority to become law.

The legislation, championed by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, was pushed through the Knesset’s National Security Committee on 3 November, drawing widespread condemnation from human rights groups.