DaysofPal- The Palestinian movement Hamas has warned of the “dangerous consequences” of a racist law approved by the Israeli Knesset, allowing the death penalty to be imposed on Palestinian prisoners, particularly those accused by Israeli occupation forces of participating in the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation on October 7, 2023.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Hamas said that “terror policies and fascist legislation” would fail to break the will of the Palestinian people or deter them from continuing what it called their legitimate struggle until achieving their full national rights.
Legitimization of Killing
The movement described the new Israeli legislation as a “dangerous escalation,” and another crime added to Israel’s long record of war crimes and systematic violations against Palestinians.
Hamas further argued that the law is “null and illegitimate,” constituting a blatant violation of international law, particularly the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law.
The statement said that the law creates procedures for carrying out executions, gives military courts extraordinary authority, and permits the circumvention of procedural and evidentiary rules.
Hamas emphasized these provisions reveal the “revenge-driven and racist nature” of the Israeli system and reflect attempts by the Israeli government to legitimize the killing of Palestinian prisoners while turning courts into instruments of retaliation rather than justice.
The movement also said the legislation appears designed to block future prisoner exchange agreements by explicitly excluding prisoners linked to the October 7 operation from any future release deals. Hamas described this as a clear violation of humanitarian norms and international law.
Global Call to Action
Hamas called on the United Nations, the International Criminal Court, the United Nations Human Rights Council, and international human rights organizations to take urgent action to halt and invalidate the law. The movement also urged international bodies to hold Israeli leaders accountable for alleged crimes against Palestinian prisoners and to provide international protection for detainees who are “freedom fighters resisting a colonial and racist occupation.”
Hamas added that continued international silence over such policies encourages the Israeli government to persist in discriminatory practices and violations against Palestinian prisoners.
On Monday evening, the Israeli Knesset approved the bill in its second and third readings. The legislation concerns the prosecution of Palestinian detainees whom Israeli authorities accuse of involvement in the events of October 7, 2023.
The law passed with the support of 93 Knesset members after being introduced by Simcha Rothman, head of the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee, and Knesset member Yulia Malinovsky. It authorizes the prosecution of individuals accused by Israel of committing what it defines as the “most serious crimes,” opening the possibility of death sentences and barring those convicted from being released in any future prisoner exchange agreements.
Israeli media reported that the law explicitly stipulates that prisoners tried under its provisions would “never” be released, even as part of any future exchange arrangements.
In March, the Israeli Knesset also approved a separate law authorizing the execution of Palestinian prisoners by hanging inside prisons, a move rights groups described as an unprecedented shift in Israel’s treatment of Palestinian detainees.
Israeli occupation forces continue to detain hundreds of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, including 1,283 detainees categorized as “unlawful combatants.”
According to figures released by the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, and Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, the number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees held in Israeli prisons exceeded 9,400 by early May 2026.
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