Israel’s progress toward a new law enabling the execution of Palestinian prisoners has drawn sharp condemnation from rights groups and political movements, who warn that the measure formalises practices already responsible for a rising number of deaths in detention. The draft bill, approved in its first reading earlier this month, would allow courts to impose death sentences within a 90-day period and deny those convicted any right to appeal or clemency. Critics say the legislation is designed to provide legal cover for abuses that have long taken place behind prison walls, where dozens of detainees have died since October 2023 amid widespread reports of torture, deliberate medical neglect and prolonged deprivation.

The proposal arrives at a moment when the treatment of Palestinian prisoners is under unprecedented scrutiny. Former detainees describe an environment marked by systematic cruelty: prolonged beatings, humiliation, starvation, denial of medical treatment and the near-total prohibition of family visits. International investigators say the scale of mistreatment documented since the start of the genocidal war on Gaza indicates an institutionalised system rather than isolated misconduct. At least 98 Palestinians, most of them civilians, are reported to have died in custody during this period, with several UN bodies warning that such patterns could amount to crimes under international law.

Legal analysts and human rights monitors argue that the bill would further erode an already discriminatory judicial structure by empowering judges to impose death sentences exclusively on Palestinians accused of killing Israelis for so-called national motives, while offering no equivalent punishment for Israeli perpetrators. Observers say this asymmetry underscores a political climate in which extreme rhetoric has become mainstream, with senior ministers openly pressuring the government to accelerate the legislation as part of their broader strategy during the war.

Diplomatic missions and UN bodies have meanwhile expressed concern that legalising executions would deepen the humanitarian crisis facing Palestinian prisoners, many of whom have been seized from Gaza and the West Bank in large-scale arrest campaigns. Thousands remain held in undisclosed locations, often blindfolded and restrained, with limited access to lawyers or due process. Testimonies presented to UN inquiries detail severe torture, including beatings targeting sensitive areas, forced nudity and deliberate starvation, practices investigators say may meet the threshold of crimes against humanity.

Rights organisations warn that if enacted, the bill would entrench a system of vengeance under the guise of law, expanding the reach of abuses committed during the genocidal war and exposing prisoners to even greater danger. They are calling on international courts, including the ICC, to intervene and on governments to suspend arms transfers, impose targeted sanctions and uphold universal jurisdiction to deter further harm. For families of the detainees, the legislation represents not only an assault on legal norms but a threat to the very possibility of survival for relatives already held in secrecy and fear.