Hamas condemns Israeli execution bill targeting Palestinian detainees
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Hamas and Palestinian rights groups have condemned the Israeli Knesset for advancing a bill allowing the execution of Palestinian detainees, calling it a war crime and urging international intervention.
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Hamas fighters deploy and take up positions ahead of Israeli Ofer Kalderon's release in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on February 1, 2025. (AP)
The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, has strongly condemned the approval by the Israeli Knesset’s "National Security Committee" of a draft law allowing the execution of Palestinian detainees.
In an official statement, Hamas said the move "embodies the ugly fascist face of the occupation" and demonstrates "its disregard for all humanitarian and international laws and standards." The movement described the bill as a dangerous escalation targeting the Palestinian people, especially the Captive Movement.
Hamas called on the United Nations and international human rights organizations to take urgent and immediate steps to block the proposed legislation, urging the formation of international committees to inspect detention centers and document the ongoing violations against Palestinian detainees.
The Palestinian Center for the Defense of Prisoners also condemned the bill’s advancement in its first reading, declaring it a "clear Israeli war crime."
In a statement, the center said, "The Israeli government of extremism and terrorism proves once again that it feeds on the blood and suffering of inside occupation prisons," warning that this law could lead to more bloodshed and drag the region into further instability, urging international institutions to assume their legal and moral responsibilities to stop such "criminal policies" against the Palestinian Captive Movement.
Both Hamas and the Palestinian Center stressed the need for international accountability and legal mechanisms to confront what they described as a systematic campaign by the Israeli occupation to break the will of Palestinian detainees through collective punishment, medical neglect, torture, and now potential executions.
Detainee Mohammad Ghawadra martyred amid escalating abuses
The condemnation of the bill comes amid the continued deterioration of conditions in Israeli occupation prisons. The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society announced on Sunday the death of Palestinian detainee Mohammad Hussein Mohammad Ghawadreh, 63, from Jenin, who died inside the Gannot Prison (formerly Nafha and Ramon), where he had been detained since August 6, 2024.
According to the joint statement, Ghawadreh was the father of administrative detainee Sami Ghawadreh and the father of freed detainee Shadi Ghawadreh, who was released earlier this year as part of the latest exchange deal and later deported to Egypt.
The statement said Ghawadreh’s death comes amid an ongoing campaign of incitement led by the Israeli occupation authorities, spearheaded by extremist Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who continues to push for the execution of Palestinian detainees and boasts publicly about his crimes against them.
It also pointed to a sharp escalation in Israeli prison abuses following the recent ceasefire, citing testimony from freed detainees as clear evidence of torture, executions, and systematic mistreatment. The organizations said that bodies of martyrs recently handed over to Palestinian authorities displayed unmistakable signs of abuse, confirming what they described as "field executions inside Israeli prisons."
