Statement Issued by the Palestinian Coalition Against Torture

Knesset Approval of a Death Penalty Law:

Entrenching a Policy of Genocide and Apartheid

6/4/2026

The Palestinian Coalition Against Torture expresses its unequivocal condemnation of the Israeli Knesset’s final approval of a law authorizing the execution of Palestinian prisoners. This legislation comes within the broader context of ongoing occupation policies grounded in torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment against detainees, which have resulted in the deaths of more than one hundred prisoners over the past two years due to torture and deliberate medical neglect—amounting to what is known as extrajudicial execution.

This law further reflects systematic retaliatory motives pursued by the occupying power against, Palestinian prisoners, at a time when its leadership faces proceedings before the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and is subject to cases before the International Court of Justice for violations of the Convention on the Prevention of the Crime of Genocide.

The attempt to confer legal cover on the execution of prisoners through this legislation constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Palestinian detainees are regarded, under the Geneva Conventions, as either protected civilians under the Fourth Convention or prisoners of war under the Third Convention—both of which prohibit the imposition of the death penalty through legislation enacted by an occupying power.

 International law further prohibits the application of the occupying power’s domestic laws to the population of occupied territories, as well as their transfer and detention outside those territories. In this regard, we reaffirm the established legal position, including the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, that occupation is by nature temporary and does not confer upon the occupying power the authority to enact punitive legislation against the occupied population.

The Coalition considers this law to be a direct assault on the humanity of Palestinians and a formalization of systematic killing, whereby torture and medical neglect have become routine instruments of extrajudicial execution in the absence of accountability. Its adoption, with broad backing from the government and members of the Knesset, reflects a dangerous political consensus to institutionalize killing as an official policy rooted in retaliation and discrimination.

This legislation institutionalizes a framework for the execution of Palestinians, as it is explicitly designed to apply exclusively to them and seeks to normalize capital punishment as a tool of repression. It provides for executions by hanging within ninety days of sentencing, without the possibility of pardon, and compels military courts to issue death sentences by a simple majority—despite conviction rates approaching 96 percent, frequently based on confessions extracted under torture.

Execution by hanging not only constitutes a grave violation of human dignity but, in essence, amounts to a form of torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, given the deliberate physical and psychological suffering it entails beyond any legitimate punishment. This is unequivocally prohibited under Common Article 3 of the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions, which mandates humane treatment of all detainees and criminalizes all forms of torture and cruel treatment. It also constitutes a clear violation of Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment.

Moreover, the extraction of confessions under torture represents a compounded violation of Article 15 of the Convention Against Torture, which prohibits the use of statements obtained through torture as evidence in legal proceedings. Furthermore, the dire conditions of detention endured by Palestinian prisoners—including solitary confinement, denial of medical care, and physical and psychological abuse—amount in themselves to a continuous and systematic breach of the same Convention.

In light of the fact that international silence, or the mere issuance of statements of condemnation, is no longer acceptable—and instead risks serving as a green light for executions within prisons, constituting a stain on the conscience of humanity—this law embodies a system of apartheid through its discriminatory application exclusively against Palestinians and represents a form of genocide aimed at the deliberate destruction of part of the Palestinian people through the use of the death penalty. Accordingly, the Coalition calls for:

1.    The United Nations Secretary-General to take urgent action to halt the implementation of this law and to hold the occupying power accountable for its grave violations of international law, while urging the relevant Special Rapporteurs—particularly those on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and on torture—to investigate this law and its consequences.

2.    The International Committee of the Red Cross to fulfill its mandate, including by visiting places of detention, assessing the conditions of prisoners, and ensuring their protection in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.

3.    The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty to adopt a firm position in support of Palestinian prisoners and to exert pressure on the international community to abolish the death penalty as a cruel and inhuman punishment incompatible with international human rights standards.

4.    The International Criminal Court to initiate an urgent and independent investigation into this law as a war crime and a crime against humanity, and to pursue accountability for Israeli officials responsible, in accordance with its jurisdiction over crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian territory.

5.    States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to uphold their legal and moral obligations by exerting pressure on Israel, as an unlawful occupying power, to immediately repeal this law and cease all execution measures against Palestinian prisoners. They are further called upon to safeguard the independence and impartiality of the International Criminal Court and to protect it from any pressures or sanctions that may impede its work in delivering justice for Palestinian victims.

6.    The disclosure of the fate of withheld bodies and missing persons whose existence has not been acknowledged by Israel, the return of the bodies of deceased detainees to their families, and the recognition of the withholding of bodies as a war crime.

End

1.    Al-Haq Organization

2.    Treatment and Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture.

3.    Addameer Foundation for Prisoner Support and Human Rights.

4.    Human Rights and Democracy Media Center “SHAMS”.

5.    The Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal

         Profession “Istiqlal”.

6.    Center for Defense of Freedoms and Civil Rights “HURRYYAT”.

7.    Jerusalem Legal Aid Center.

8.    Gaza Community Mental Health Programme.

9.    Independent Commission for Human Rights (Observer Member).