Palestinian groups call Knesset execution bill dangerous escalation
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The legislation would impose capital punishment on Palestinian prisoners "convicted" of killing Israelis, even in cases labeled as negligence.
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People carry posters with pictures and names of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention, while protesting against the war on Gaza, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Tuesday, March 18, 2025 (AP)
The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) warned that the Israeli Knesset's advancement of an execution bill marks a dangerous escalation in the occupation's crimes against Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
In a joint statement, the two institutions condemned the so-called "National Security Committee's" approval of the draft legislation, which now heads for a first reading. They said the move was no surprise given the unprecedented brutality of the occupation since the genocidal war on Gaza began.
The statement noted that for decades, the occupation has pursued "slow execution" policies inside prisons, depriving prisoners and detainees of medical care and basic rights. These measures, it said, have intensified since October 2023, making this period the deadliest in the history of the Palestinian Captive Movement.
As part of its broader war on Palestinian healthcare, the Israeli occupation has detained more than 360 healthcare workers in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, according to the Palestine Center for Prisoners’ Studies. The detainees include doctors, nurses, paramedics, and… pic.twitter.com/bTfvE0y8dV
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) September 23, 2025
Recent data show the scale of these violations. As of September 2025, over 11,100 Palestinians are held in official prison facilities, the highest number since the Second Intifada. This excludes thousands more in military camps and detention centers. Since October 2023, "Israel" has detained more than 19,000 Palestinians from the West Bank and al-Quds, including women and children, while around 15,000 have been arrested in Gaza.
Human rights groups have documented widespread torture, including beatings, waterboarding, sexual violence, and deliberate starvation. At least 77 Palestinians have died in custody between October 2023 and August 2025, many due to medical neglect and abuse.
The Prisoners’ Information Office in #Gaza reported that 77 Palestinian prisoners and detainees have been killed in Israeli prisons since October 7, 2023, due to torture, starvation, and deliberate medical neglect.
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) August 27, 2025
The latest figures raise the total number of Palestinians… pic.twitter.com/CDuH4pvBWZ
Legal cover for executions
The statement stressed that despite international law banning the death penalty, the occupation seeks to codify it, treating itself as above accountability. Dozens of prisoners have already been killed since the war, and the new law seeks to entrench this reality.
The death penalty proposal is not new. Far-right Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir revived it in 2022, and the Knesset approved a preliminary reading in 2023. The legislation, part of coalition agreements with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, would impose capital punishment on Palestinians "convicted" of killing Israelis, even in cases labeled as negligence.
The institutions warned that this draft law adds to a repressive legal system targeting Palestinians for decades, with detainees suffering the harshest impact. They described it as a further attempt to provide a false legal cover for what is already a systematic policy of extrajudicial execution.
