News - Middle East: The Knesset (Israel Parliament) is set to discuss a controversial draft law on “executing Palestinian prisoners” for initial approval this week, the so-called Israeli security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has said.

Ben Gvir in a post on X (formerly Twitter) said that he will bring the death penalty law for Palestinian prisoners, already prepared by his Otzma Yehudit party, to the Knesset National Security Committee on Monday.
“The Knesset will discuss on Monday preparations for the first reading of the death penalty law for Palestinian prisoners,” he wrote.
He added that the draft “is expected to receive support by all members of the Knesset.”
Last March, in a preliminary reading, the Knesset approved a draft law that stipulates that courts can impose the death penalty on those who kill an Israeli with nationalistic motivation. However, it would not apply to an Israeli who killed a Palestinian.
The primary legislation was submitted by Ben Gvir and supported by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It was met with a wave of opposition.
Hamas, the Palestinian resistance movement, vowed that such policies would not deter the Palestinian people from exercising their right to resistance against the occupying regime and its illegal settlers.
The death penalty law has been proposed in Israel more than once in recent years, but the Knesset has so far refused to legislate it. The draft law must be improved three times in the Knesset to become effective.
In February, UN experts in a statement expressed grave concern over the potential reinstatement of the death penalty.
Such laws “suffer from a lack of legal precision, infringe on critically important rights, and appear not to meet the required thresholds of legality, necessity, proportionality, and non-discrimination under international law,” the statement said.