NAZARETH, (PIC)
The Israeli Knesset is pushing a draft law on the execution of Palestinian prisoners to the verge of final approval, after the National Security Committee approved its final version on March 24, 2026, in a step that reintroduces the death penalty as a direct punitive tool within the context of a prolonged conflict, raising human rights and legal warnings about repercussions that go beyond legislation to the structure of the international legal system.
A rapid legislative path toward approval
The National Security Committee approved the draft law after overcoming more than 2,000 objections submitted during deliberations, paving the way for its referral to the second and third readings in the Knesset, amid clear political support from the government of Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
The draft represents the culmination of a fluctuating legislative path that began in 2015 with rejection, before gradually succeeding in breaking through Israeli parliamentary obstacles since 2018, leading to its strong reintroduction in 2023 and its consolidation within the agenda of the ruling right wing coalition in 2025, reflecting a shift in Israeli political discourse, where the death penalty is now presented as a deterrent tool within a security context, rather than a limited legal exception as it was historically.
From exception to punitive tool
Israel has not carried out the death penalty since the execution of Adolf Eichmann in 1962 following his conviction for genocide crimes during World War Two, and since then the penalty has remained theoretically present in legislation without actual implementation.
The new law transfers this penalty from its exceptional framework linked to war crimes to a broader scope targeting a specific category, Palestinian prisoners, marking a qualitative shift in the philosophy of punishment.
The draft also relies on a legal structure rooted in British Mandate legislation that Israel retained parts of after its establishment, before later restricting the application of execution to narrow cases.
A strict legal text and controversial mechanisms
The draft proposes amending the Penal Law of 1977 to impose the death penalty on anyone convicted of killing an Israeli for hostile or national motives, however the final version goes beyond this framework, as it stipulates imposing execution in a mandatory manner without requiring a request from the public prosecution, and sufficing with a majority of 2 judges out of 3 to issue the ruling, and carrying out the sentence within 90 days through the prison administration, while granting the Prime Minister the authority to delay implementation for up to 180 days.
The draft also expands the scope of courts authorized to issue the ruling to include civil and military courts, with the possibility of applying it “inside Israel and in the occupied territories”.
A central point in the legal debate is the potential discriminatory nature of the law, as it allows imposing execution on Palestinians in cases where Israelis may receive life imprisonment under similar circumstances, in addition to including highly sensitive legal provisions such as its retroactive application, restricting the right to appeal, and preventing pardon.
Prison reality, death before legislation
This development comes amid a detention reality described by rights groups as harsh and in violation of international standards, with more than 9,300 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons according to data from prisoner affairs institutions.
Data reveal the martyrdom of more than 292 prisoners since 1967, including dozens as a result of torture or medical negligence, while about 100 deaths have been recorded since October 2023.
The conviction rate in Israeli military courts also exceeds 99% according to Israeli human rights studies, raising serious concerns about introducing the death penalty into a judicial system facing ongoing criticism regarding fair trial guarantees.
Escalating human rights and international warnings
International organizations warned of the consequences of the draft, as Amnesty International considered it a dangerous trend toward entrenching discrimination, while Human Rights Watch confirmed that applying execution in the context of a prolonged occupation raises profound legal issues.
Al-Ahd International Foundation considers that the draft law on the execution of Palestinian prisoners represents a dangerous escalation in the system of Israeli legislation related to managing the occupation, and constitutes a clear violation of the rules of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
The foundation affirms that imposing the death penalty in occupied territories is subject to strict restrictions under the Fourth Geneva Convention, particularly Article 68, which requires exceptional judicial guarantees, including the right to seek pardon or sentence reduction, which contradicts the text of the draft that cancels or severely restricts these guarantees.
It also warned that implementing this law, if approved, may open the door to potential international criminal accountability, given that it may involve issuing execution sentences in the context of military occupation and through judicial procedures that raise serious questions about fair trial guarantees.
United Nations experts also expressed rejection of mandatory death penalties as they contradict the right to life and prevent consideration of individual circumstances, and the European Union expressed concern over Israel’s return to a penalty that contradicts the global trend toward abolition.
In contrast, former Israeli security officials warned that implementing execution may lead to field escalation, including increased attempts of kidnapping to bargain over prisoners sentenced to death.
Conflict with international humanitarian law
Legal assessments confirm that the draft conflicts with fundamental rules of international law, most notably violating the Fourth Geneva Convention which requires strict guarantees before issuing execution sentences in occupied territories, violating the principle of non-discrimination by linking punishment to national identity, breaching the principle of non-retroactivity of criminal laws, in addition to the possibility of being classified as a war crime under the Rome Statute if sentences are carried out without fair trial guarantees. With Palestine’s accession to the International Criminal Court, applying the law may open the door to international legal accountability.
Toward a legal precedent in the context of conflict
The draft redefines the maximum punishment within a complex political and security context, where national affiliation becomes a factor that may directly influence determining the punishment. The impact of the law, if approved, is not limited to the fate of Palestinian prisoners, but extends to testing the effectiveness of the international legal system in protecting the right to life when it is reshaped through legislation. At this moment, the distance between the legal text and its implementation is no longer theoretical, but a real possibility placing criminal justice in the context of occupation before an unprecedented test.