Israel’s parliament has advanced a law allowing the execution of Palestinian prisoners, a move condemned by rights groups as a chilling reflection of how far the political establishment has sunk into open brutality. Critics say the measure seeks to dress up state violence in the guise of legality, while trampling on international law and the most basic principles of justice.

The bill comes against the backdrop of an ongoing war that has already cost tens of thousands of civilian lives in Gaza. For those who see prisons as another front in this assault, the legislation is a signal that Israel now wishes to turn practices long criticised as unlawful killings into an officially sanctioned policy. Rights advocates warn that this is an attempt to grant a veneer of legitimacy to a system that has already overseen the deaths of countless detainees through torture, neglect, and abuse.

The passage of such a law, even in its preliminary stages, underscores the growing sense of impunity with which Israel acts, treating international conventions as obstacles to be ignored. To campaigners, it marks not only a direct attack on prisoners but also a dangerous precedent that undermines global norms against capital punishment. As one rights group put it, what is unfolding is nothing less than a descent into the “law of the jungle,” where Palestinians are reduced to prey and execution becomes policy.