Israeli Knesset Approves Death Penalty Law for Palestinian Detainees in West Bank

In Ramallah in the West Bank, families of Palestinian detainees, representatives of Palestinian factions, clerics, and activists staged a sit-in outside the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross to protest the Israeli Knesset's approval of a bill imposing the death penalty.

Late Monday, the Israeli Knesset approved a bill that could allow the execution of Palestinians convicted of 'terrorism' in the wake of deadly attacks, and AFP reported that Maisoun Shouamera arrived with a poster bearing her son Mansour's image, held in Israeli prisons for more than three years without trial.

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Shouamera told AFP, "I'm afraid for my son... the mothers of the detainees couldn't sleep last night," and she added, "The measure could apply to him, and it might not apply to him."

The bill's framework states that any person who deliberately causes the death of another person with the intent to harm an Israeli citizen or resident, and with the aim of ending the existence of the State of Israel, shall be punished by death or life imprisonment, and it says that for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank the death penalty would be the default punishment if Israeli military courts classify a murder as a 'terrorist act.'

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said on Tuesday that applying Israel's death-penalty law to those described as 'terrorists'—drafted to apply only to Palestinians—would be a 'war crime,' and he added, "We should be ashamed."

In Israel, opinions on enacting the death penalty ranged from supporters to opponents, and Tel Aviv physician Meir Lahav called the legislation "primitive and very stupid."

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The Times of Israel reported that the death penalty law for Palestinian terrorists in the West Bank came into effect Sunday night after Maj. Gen Avi Bluth signed the military order necessary to enact the measure in the territory.

The Times of Israel said the order requires that a military court presiding over the prosecution of terrorists whose attacks resulted in the death of a victim apply the death penalty alone as the only available sentence, unless the court finds special circumstances allowing for life imprisonment.

The Times of Israel said Defense Minister Israel Katz requested that Bluth approve the military order, and it reported that the legislation has been widely condemned as discriminatory because it states explicitly that it does not apply to Israeli citizens or residents of Israel.

Haaretz reported that the commander of the Israel Defense Forces' Central Command on Sunday signed an order applying the new death penalty, and it described the law as drafted in a way that targets Arabs and is expected to apply only to Palestinians.

The law is beginning to face legal challenges, with the Association for Civil Rights in Israel saying it created "two parallel tracks, both designed to apply to Palestinians" and should be struck down on constitutional grounds.

In Ramallah, Abdullah Zghari, head of the Palestinian Prisoners Club, said, "This fascist and racist legislation embodies the racism of the occupation in dealing with Palestinians in particular," as the sit-in continued outside the International Committee of the Red Cross.