Israel has enforced a new law mandating the death penalty for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, after the commander of its Central Command Major General Avi Bluth signed the military order required to activate the measure on Sunday.
The order compels military courts to impose capital punishment in cases where a Palestinian is convicted of killing an Israeli occupation soldier or otherwise.
Judges may only consider life imprisonment if they identify exceptional circumstances, making execution the default outcome.
The legislation, approved in March, entrenches an apartheid style dual legal system that applies exclusively to Palestinians.
Israeli citizens and residents remain subject to civilian courts, shielding them from the law’s provisions.
The measure further restricts its scope to military courts, where Palestinians are prosecuted, reinforcing a system widely condemned for denying fair trial guarantees.
One of the criteria for imposing the death penalty requires that the act be intended to “negate the existence of the State of Israel or the authority of the military commander in the area”, a condition that overwhelmingly targets Palestinians resisting occupation.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir welcomed the move, framing it as a tool against Palestinian resistance.
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Ben Gvir hailed the decision as a political victory for his Jewish Power party stating, “We promised and we fulfilled” and that “we do not capitulate or contain murderous terrorism, we defeat it.”
The law has drawn fierce condemnation from Palestinian organisations, who warn it formalises discrimination and strips Palestinians of basic legal protections.
Critics argue it deepens an entrenched system of apartheid, where two populations live under separate legal regimes.
Human rights organisations have denounced the legislation as a dangerous escalation, pointing to a surge in arrests on sweeping security charges, alongside mounting reports of torture and deaths in Israeli custody since the war on Gaza intensified.
Palestinian prisoners’ rights groups described the law as an “unprecedented act of savagery”, accusing Israel of codifying violence against detainees amid worsening conditions behind bars.
Israeli advocacy groups, including Adalah, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, HaMoked and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, have also condemned the measure, warning it creates a “discriminatory punitive framework” that denies Palestinians equal protection under the law and safeguards against abuse.
