The death penalty law passed in March by Israel’s parliament has come into effect after an army commander signed an order implementing the measure, Israeli media has reported.
Hardline commander Avi Bluth signed the order on Sunday activating the death penalty in occupied Palestinian territory. He has previously said his troops were “killing [Palestinians] like we haven't since 1967” in the West Bank, referring to the 1967 war that led to Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem.
The highly controversial legislation introduces two provisions allowing courts to impose the death penalty for offences defined as “terrorist acts”, including in the West Bank, under military jurisdiction.
Only Palestinians are tried in military courts and have a conviction rate of 96 per cent “based largely on 'confessions' extracted under duress and torture during interrogations”, Israeli rights group B'Tselem said.
The law would apply to residents of the West Bank “except Israeli residents”, according to a copy of the law seen by The National. Under the second provision, Palestinian citizens of Israel and those living in occupied East Jerusalem would face the death penalty for “intentional killing … with the aim of negating the existence of the state of Israel”.
“If a Palestinian was killed, whether in the West Bank or Israel from an ideological point of view, they're not considered impacting the state of Israel,” Dr Suhad Bishara, a director at the Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights, told The National before the bill was passed.
In both cases, the definition of what constitutes a terrorist act is vague, a UN panel of experts has said.
Israel holds 9,500 Palestinians under “administrative detention” – that is, without charge. Since the Gaza war broke out on October 7, 2023, at least 80 Palestinian detainees have died in Israeli prisons where they are exposed to poor treatment, medical negligence and violence, B'Tselem said.
Introduced in November, the bill faced major opposition domestically and internationally, resulting in changes to its language. An earlier version stipulated that the death penalty would be mandatory but, after some opposition, the language was revised to allow life imprisonment in some cases.
A death sentence would also require due process for a fair trial – conditions that are not met in the way Israel's court system operates against Palestinian detainees. In many cases, coercive interrogation or torture is used to obtain information from suspects, say local and international rights groups.
Palestinians are also denied access to so-called secret evidence against them, thereby preventing them from fully defending themselves. In January, UN human rights chief Volker Turk said the bill contravened international law on several levels.
“Such proposals are inconsistent with Israel’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” Mr Turk said. “The proposal also raises other human rights concerns, including on the basis that it is discriminatory given it will exclusively apply to Palestinians.”
Although Israel has never officially abolished the death penalty, the last execution it carried out took place in 1962.
