Palestinian Prisoner Groups Urge International Action Against Execution Law

Palestinian prisoner advocacy groups have called for urgent international intervention to halt a law permitting the execution of Palestinian prisoners, urging its cancellation. The organizations issued a statement on Saturday, October 10, 2026, coinciding with the World Day Against the Death Penalty, warning of escalating torture, medical neglect, and killings within Israeli prisons. They highlighted that Palestinian prisoners have endured one of the bloodiest periods in their history since the start of the "genocidal war" in Gaza, with detention centers becoming sites of physical and psychological torture, starvation, denial of medical care, and isolation.

The groups reported that at least 92 Palestinian prisoners, whose identities are known, have died since October 2023. This figure, they stated, does not include detainees from Gaza who were allegedly executed in the field or died under torture without their identities being revealed.

The prisoner groups consider the execution law, passed by the Knesset in its second and third readings on March 30, 2026, to be legislative and political cover for ongoing violations. The law mandates the death penalty for Palestinians who intentionally cause the death of Israelis, lowers the required majority for sentencing, and allows judges to issue death sentences with a simple majority instead of the previous consensus requirement in some cases.

According to the statement, the law establishes two different legal tracks: military courts for Palestinians in the occupied territories of 1967, and civil courts for Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, which the groups deem discriminatory. The law also stipulates execution by hanging within 90 days of sentencing, with provisions for isolation of those sentenced to death and barring their families from attending executions.

Regarding Gaza detainees, the groups noted that the Knesset passed a separate law on May 11, 2026, to try those described by Israeli authorities as "elite prisoners" in a special military court, facing charges including genocide. The organizations appealed to international bodies to halt the execution law, review institutional ties with entities contributing to rights violations, and activate universal jurisdiction to prosecute those responsible for torture, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

They also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all Palestinian prisoners, an end to administrative detention and military courts, and independent international investigations into torture, medical neglect, and deaths in detention. The groups called for enabling the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit all prisoners without restrictions, ensuring their communication with families and lawyers, and revealing the fate of Gaza detainees whose whereabouts and conditions remain unknown. The organizations stressed full cooperation with the International Criminal Court and support for its investigations, warning that continued impunity threatens the international legal system.