Gaza, 6 October 2025 –  On 28 September 2025, the National Security Committee at the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) approved a draft bill for first reading that would authorize the execution of Palestinian prisoners.

The draft bill mandates the death penalty for individuals "convicted of murder motivated by racism or hostility toward a particular public, and under circumstances where the act was committed with the intent to harm the State of Israel and the rebirth of the Jewish people in their homeland", with no possibility of commutation. Alarmingly, it further lowers the legal threshold by allowing judges to impose death sentences on Palestinian detainees by a simple majority, rather than requiring unanimity. This provision exposes the retaliatory and politicized nature of the bill, as it strips away judicial discretion and contradicts comparative legal standards that emphasize the judge’s role in assessing criminal elements and the presence of intent. In this way, execution is closer to being used as a tool for vengeance against Palestinians and kill them en mass as a part of the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

This development is the latest in a series of legislative amendments enacted by the Knesset after October 2023, which grant Israeli authorities enforcing the occupation of Palestine sweeping powers to operate beyond judicial oversight, including the denial of fair trial guarantees and other rights enshrined in international law. This bill marks a dangerous shift in Israeli policy by enshrining into law the systematic state-sanctioned killing of Palestinian detainees.

Since October 2023, Israeli authorities have arbitrarily detained thousands of Palestinians in Gaza—seizing them from their homes, shelters, checkpoints, hospitals, and so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution points. Palestinian detainees have been held under extremely inhumane conditions and subjected to torture, as well as other forms of dehumanizing treatment. Dozens of Palestinians have already died while in Israel's custody, while Israeli authorities continue to systematically violate the basic rights of detainees in flagrant violation of the standards enshrined in international humanitarian and human rights law.

The newly proposed bill mandating the killing of detained Palestinians is another arm of Israel's genocide in Gaza. It codifies the execution of Palestinians as a punitive response to developments in Gaza and constitutes a form of collective punishment by allowing for the killing of Palestinian detainees without due process.

Al Mezan strongly condemns Israel’s legislative policies and expresses grave concern for the safety of Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons and detention facilities.The international community must further uphold its legal and moral obligations to end this genocide, and must urgently intervene by all available means to protect Palestinians in Gaza. Al Mezan further calls for decisive action to halt Israel's legislative efforts to execute Palestinian detainees and stop this act of mass killing and collective punishment.