On Thursday, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir published an updated version of the so-called “Death Penalty for Terrorists Bill” that would allow the state to execute Palestinian detainees who have been judged of involvement in the 7 October attacks.
Middle East Eye noted yesterday that the bill, initiated by MK Limor Son Har Melech of the Ben Gvir-led Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, initially aimed to allow judges to impose the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis on so-called “nationalistic” grounds. The legislation would not apply to Israelis who kill Palestinians under similar circumstances.
A new addition announced by Ben Gvir expands the draft legislation to include those accused of perpetrating attacks on 7 October 2023, who will receive the death penalty as a “mandatory sentence.” The sentencing will be classified as “genocide under the Genocide Law,” Ben Gvir wrote, adding that the court will not be “bound by the prosecution’s position.”
Once a detainee has been officially accused of their involvement, they will be executed within 90 days by the Israel Prison Service (IPS).
MEE uses the word “accused” in its description of Ben Gvir’s bill, implying that a defendant will be executed without due process, though the word itself doesn’t appear in his statement.
But MEE also notes that rights groups have strongly opposed the controversial bill in light of Israel’s widespread arrest of Palestinians on loose terrorism charges and a surge in reports of torture and deaths of detainees since it began its genocidal war on Gaza. At least 9,300 Palestinians are currently reported to be held in Israeli prisons, though the real figure is likely higher, as Israel withholds information on hundreds of people its army seized in Gaza.
A “record high” number of 110 Palestinians have died under prison policies implemented by Ben Gvir since he took office two and a half years ago. Palestinian groups say that number is likely higher.
Palestinian prisoners’ rights groups—the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club—described the bill to execute Palestinian prisoners as an “unprecedented act of savagery.” The groups accused Israel of aiming to legalise the ongoing killing of prisoners through the bill, saying its approval “is no longer surprising in light of the unprecedented level of savagery practised by the occupation system.”
