Executing Palestinians

THAT Israel has moved to legalise the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of fatal attacks comes as little surprise, given its appalling human rights record and persistent disregard for Palestinian life. Yet the sight of Israeli ministers and politicians openly celebrating the passage of this grim law lays bare something even more disturbing: a political culture in which such cruelty is not merely accepted, but applauded. This newspaper opposes capital punishment in all its forms, and so the development is particularly abhorrent. The death penalty is incompatible with any genuine commitment to justice. Its application in a deeply unequal and militarised context makes it even more unjustifiable.

The legislation makes execution, reportedly by hanging, the default punishment for Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis, with trials conducted in military courts and executions mandated within 90 days. Safeguards have been stripped away: judges may impose death sentences without prosecutorial request and by a simple majority. Such provisions point not to justice, but to expediency and retribution. Israeli citizens are tried in civilian courts where alternatives such as life imprisonment exist, while Palestinians are subjected to a parallel system designed to deliver harsher outcomes, which lays bare the structural inequities in the legal framework. This measure aligns with broader patterns of policy that reflect Israel’s ongoing project of dispossession. In that sense, the normalisation of state-sanctioned execution for a specific, occupied population is consistent with genocidal intent and a trajectory marked by dehumanisation. Global condemnation has rightly followed, with governments and rights groups warning of legal and moral breaches. Yet the celebratory tone among proponents of the law underscores a grim reality: the erosion of ethical restraint. This law will not deliver peace or deterrence. It will only deepen injustice and further diminish the value placed on Palestinian life, pushing any prospect of a just resolution even further out of reach.

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2026

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