The Israeli Knesset passed a bill on March 30 to institute the death penalty only for Palestinians. The new law mandates military courts to sentence Palestinians in the West Bank and other Israeli-occupied territories to execution by hanging if they are convicted of killing Israelis “with the aim of denying the existence of the State of Israel,” or “acts of terrorism” as deemed by the state. Israeli military courts fail to meet basic human and legal rights standards, according to observers, and have been known to convict 99% of Palestinians . Israeli settlers who kill Palestinians remain exempt from such punishment and, in many cases, receive leniency as they are tried in civilian courts .
The bill was passed on Land Day, when Palestinians commemorate a memory that reflects their deep connection to their land and their right to return to the territories from which they have been displaced. Yet this day, which is meant to symbolize steadfastness, was used by the Knesset to issue a death sentence against the very owners of the land who hold onto it with pride.
The law also passed with limited scrutiny at a time when international attention is shifting toward rising tensions with Iran, and strategic issues such as the Strait of Hormuz dominate headlines. The law will go into effect 30 days after its passage. “How many people from my family could face execution?” Ghaydaa Al-Abadsa, a specialist in prisoners’ affairs at the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees, said, “We were closely following this issue for months and knew they were seriously planning to implement this decision. When it was voted on and signed, it was not entirely surprising but still deeply shocking. We had hoped international institutions, the Red Cross, or human rights bodies would intervene. But unfortunately, none did.”
The decision made Al-Abadsa recall “Red Tuesday,” on June 17, 1930, when British Mandate authorities publicly executed Palestinians Fuad Hijazi, Atta Ezzir, and Mohammed Jamjoom for protesting Zionist immigration to Palestine. The three are among the most prominent martyrs in the history of the Palestinian struggle.
“If this happened to three people, what would happen now with more than 10,000 detainees? We are not talking about individual cases, but about a collective catastrophe inside prisons.” Al-Abadsa said. “I even found myself picking up a pen and paper, trying to count: How many people from my family could face execution? How many from our area? Imagine the pain of turning such questions into real numbers.”
She said this decision affects thousands of families and detainees who have been waiting for years to reunite.
Rights groups condemned the new law.
“What took place inside Israel’s Knesset, before the eyes and ears of the entire world, is not merely legal legislation; rather, it is an open declaration of war on the lives of prisoners, transforming prisons into execution platforms under a judicial system that is fully biased and devoid of even the minimum standards of justice or independence,” the Palestinian Center for Prisoners Advocacy said in a press release . “The passage of this law constitutes a dangerous and unprecedented escalation that will open a new phase of confrontation and continuous struggle across all areas of Palestinian land.”
The Institute for Middle East Understanding said in a statement on Instagram that “the law will make way for Israel to kill even more Palestinians who would not have the chance at a fair trial.”
“To be clear, Israel is already killing Palestinians on a daily basis in the West Bank and Gaza. This law—the latest of Israel’s many discriminatory, apartheid laws—is yet another way Israeli officials are trying to ensure that Israel can continue to kill Palestinians,” the organization wrote.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch also published statements against the law.
“It speaks volumes to the extent of Israel’s dehumanization of Palestinians that this law has passed in the same month in which Israeli military attorney general dropped all charges against Israeli soldiers accused of sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee—a decision celebrated by the Prime Minister and several ministers,” Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty International’s senior director of research, advocacy, policy, and campaigns, said in a press release . “It is an open declaration of war on the lives of prisoners.” There are approximately 9,250 prisoners in Israeli prisons as of November 2025, following the release of around 2,000 prisoners at the beginning of the so-called ceasefire in October. These prisoners live under harsh conditions and endure some of the worst forms of abuse and torture, according to testimonies. Most of them are Palestinians who were arrested at checkpoints in the West Bank or abducted from Gaza after refusing to move south under displacement orders.
All of them are held under Israel’s “ Unlawful Combatants Law ,” which authorizes the detention of individuals suspected of involvement in “hostile activities” against Israel, and defines such individuals as members of armed groups that the state does not recognize as lawful combatants. As a result, those captured are considered outside the full protections of the Geneva Conventions and treated as security threats. They may therefore be arrested and detained indefinitely without charge or trial, and without the presentation of public evidence, under the justification that security agencies hold classified files against them.
Israel detains around 350 minors and 49 women. Among the detainees is Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, who has become a Palestinian symbol of steadfastness. His health deteriorated significantly, like many prisoners who do not receive adequate food or necessary medical care. Reports indicate that he has been subjected to torture and other forms of cruel and degrading treatment, and his health remains in critical condition.
Although the death penalty law represents a dangerous escalation, more than 350 Palestinian prisoners have already died inside prisons as a result of torture, medical neglect, and systematic abuse, according to the Palestinian Center for Prisoners Advocacy. A report published in November by Physicians for Human Rights-Israel verified at least 94 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody over two years of the genocide.
Al-Abadsa said detainees in Israeli prisons have no real legal protections and their human rights are not respected under these conditions, which have significantly worsened. Israel has banned family visits, limited access to lawyers, cut prisoners off from the outside world, and deprived them of food and water, according to Al-Abadsa, along with prolonged denial of showers. Al-Abadsa said that there are documented cases of death resulting from medical negligence. One such case involved Walid Khalid Abdullah Ahmad, 17, who died last year in Israeli custody. An autopsy reportedly indicated that he likely died from “a combination of starvation, dehydration from colitis-induced diarrhea, and infectious complications all compounded by prolonged malnutrition and denial of life saving medical intervention,” according to Defense for Children International-Palestine . There are approximately 9,250 prisoners in Israeli prisons as of November 2025. “Prisoners are isolated from the world,” said Mohammad Daabas, my uncle who was released to Gaza from Israeli detention last year. “They know nothing about their families. They are subjected to daily humiliation, constant insults, and torture. Even the simplest matters, such as clothing or using the bathroom, are controlled in ways that strip away their dignity. After the experience of imprisonment and after meeting other prisoners, a detainee who witnesses the depth of suffering and the hell inside prison may reach a point where they accept, or even wish for, death inside prison rather than continue enduring it.”
Under such conditions, Daabas said, “it becomes natural for a prisoner to say: ‘Execute me.’”
He also said that Israel intensified torture practices during the genocide in Gaza as a form of retaliation against prisoners. Daabas said he asked a man he met while detained in the notorious Sde Teiman prison about the difference in imprisonment during and before the genocide. “He told me, ‘One day in Sde Teiman during the war is equal to an entire year I spent in Israeli prisons before the war,’” Daabas said.
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