Israel passes controversial death penalty bill targeting West Bank Palestinians

Introduced by members of Israel's far-right coalition government, the law targets Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis. It does not apply to Israelis who kill Palestinians. The bill mandates capital punishment for attackers who kill with the intent of negating the existence of the State of Israel. Under the law, courts can impose the death penalty even if prosecutors do not request it, and a unanimous judicial decision is not required. The law does not cover militants involved in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. A separate bill creating a special tribunal for those cases is being advanced. The vote comes amid a rise in settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Israeli human rights group Yesh Din documented 257 incidents in the past month, including physical assaults, property damage, and land takeovers. The legislation faced widespread international criticism before the vote. On Sunday, the foreign ministers of Germany, France, Italy, and Britain warned that the bill is de facto discriminatory toward Palestinians. They said it would risk undermining Israel's commitments with regard to democratic principles. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Presidency on Monday condemned the approval of a law by the Israeli parliament that would allow the execution of Palestinian prisoners convicted of terrorism. Describing the move as a blatant violation of international humanitarian law, the presidency said the law constitutes a clear breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention, particularly the protections it guarantees for individuals and the safeguards for fair trials, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported. The legislation amounts to a war crime against the Palestinian people and comes within the broader context of escalating Israeli policies and measures across the occupied Palestinian territories, including the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, it said. Also on Monday, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said the approval of the law marks a dangerous shift toward genocidal legislation and the adoption of field executions. The ministry affirms that Israel has no sovereignty over Palestinian land and that Israeli laws do not apply to the Palestinian people. Meanwhile, Hamas said the move reflects the bloody nature of the occupation and its approach based on killing and terrorism, and exposes the falsity of its repeated claims of civilization and commitment to human values. This decision reaffirms the occupation and its leaders' disregard for international law, and their trampling on all human norms and conventions, it added. Meanwhile, two Palestinians were killed on Monday by Israeli army gunfire in two separate incidents in the West Bank, Palestinian sources said. Palestinian security sources told Xinhua that Abdul Rahman Abu al-Rub, 31, was killed after Israeli forces opened fire on his vehicle near the Anab checkpoint, east of Tulkarm in the northern West Bank. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a statement that Israeli forces prevented its medical teams from reaching Abu al-Rub after his vehicle came under fire near the checkpoint. In a separate incident, a young Palestinian man was killed by Israeli army in the village of Kharsa, near Dura in southwest Hebron, Palestinian medical sources said. The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the victim as Ramzi al-Awawdeh, adding he was killed by Israeli forces in the village. The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement on Monday that IDF soldiers operating adjacent to Tulkarm identified a terrorist who accelerated his vehicle toward them in a manner that posed a threat to their safety. Tensions have escalated across the West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, more than 1,080 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli gunfire and shelling in the West Bank and East Jerusalem during this period.