Legislating Death: What Does the New Israeli Law Reveal?

The tools used to target and kill Palestinians are no longer confined to direct killing or field violence; they now also extend to legal and institutional structures that work to reorganize and manage repression within spaces of detention. Places where prisoners are held can thus be read as part of a broader structure for managing control and punishment and for reshaping the daily conditions of life of Palestinian prisoners. In this context, the new law, which was voted in favor of by the Israeli Knesset with a majority of 62 votes[1], stands out as an indication of a growing tendency toward tightening the legal and procedural system governing the reality of prisons. This law comes within a broader political and security context in which Israeli calls are increasing for harsher punishments and an expansion of deterrent tools inside prisons.

What is taking place inside Israeli prisons cannot be separated from the broader reality in the West Bank and Jerusalem, where a general environment is taking shape that may be described as the “larger prison” for Palestinians. In this space, pressure extends into daily life through an integrated system of violence and control that includes settler attacks, extrajudicial killings in the field, home raids and confiscations, the imposition of forced evictions, and the seizure of property, including in sensitive areas such as Silwan and Masafer Yatta. These practices, with their overlap between settler violence and the performance of state institutions and their military and legal apparatuses, reveal that the matter does not concern isolated violations so much as it produces a systematic structure aimed at undermining the Palestinian presence and weakening the conditions of its survival. Repression thus extends from the prison walls into the broader Palestinian sphere, such that Palestinians witness violence inside the prison as they do outside it, within a coercive and expulsive context that drives toward erosion or displacement.

From this standpoint, this article seeks to analyze what is taking place inside Israeli prisons, with particular focus on the new law in terms of its content, implications, context, and potential effects on Palestinian prisoners. This law represents a new shift in Israeli policy toward prisoners and reflects an official trajectory already grounded in tightening and restriction. The methodology relies on analyzing the texts of the bill in its latest version, as well as the statements of leaders of the political current supporting it, in addition to studies and reports issued by a number of human rights organizations that monitor the conditions of prisoners inside prisons and document their testimonies and data regarding what is taking place inside. It also draws on statements by Israeli intelligence and police bodies relevant to the reality and administration of prisons, allowing for a reading that goes beyond the legal text itself to the political and security environment in which it was produced. Accordingly, the study attempts to situate this law within its broader trajectory, as part of transformations affecting the function of the prison, the nature of punishment, and the mechanisms for managing prisoners in the current phase.Top of Form

The General Context of Conditions in Israeli Prisons

Based on a number of UN and human rights reports that rely on testimonies from inside prisons[2], it can be said that the laws currently being issued have emerged within an environment already characterized by ongoing intensification against prisoners, whether in terms of conditions of detention and solitary confinement, deteriorating health conditions and the denial of medical treatment to prisoners, leading to permanent injuries including amputations and the loss of hearing and sight, and even death, or in terms of the daily punitive measures imposed on them.

In this context, a report by the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, B’Tselem, included horrifying testimonies from released prisoners that revealed multiple forms of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, such as strip searches, the use of electric shocks, the use of tear gas and stun grenades, beatings with batons, and abuses against minors, in addition to verbal abuse and humiliation, as well as inhumane living conditions such as deprivation of showers, clean drinking water, and changes of clothing, reduction of food, and practices of starvation.

With regard to deaths, the available data indicate that the number of Palestinian prisoners who died inside Israeli detention centers from the beginning of the war on Gaza until December 2025 reached approximately 84 prisoners. Only 4 of their bodies were returned, while 80 bodies remained withheld[3]. This practice reflects a pattern that goes beyond mere refusal to hand over the bodies, constituting part of a policy aimed at concealing evidence related to deaths in detention and limiting the possibility of holding the responsible authorities accountable for the violations committed. This policy does not stop at withholding bodies, but also extends to obstructing and preventing their autopsy, thereby hindering accurate disclosure of the causes of death and the factors that led to it. Hence, the difficulty in determining the true total number of prisoners who died during detention is linked to a systematic structure of concealment and obstruction, including the withholding of bodies, manipulation of autopsy procedures and timing, and the freezing of bodies for periods that affect examination results and obstruct them, in addition to restricting the presence of family-appointed doctors or limiting their role to observation without allowing them actual participation, which weakens the possibility of reaching an independent medical and legal account regarding the causes of death[4].

As for prisoners who are still alive, testimonies from released prisoners indicate that torture included both physical harm and psychological abuse. In this context, documented testimonies from detainees recount extremely brutal forms of physical torture. As reported by B’Tselem, one detainee stated: “The soldiers arrested me and took me naked to a building adjacent to al-Shifa Hospital. They tied my hands, blindfolded me with a piece of cloth, and left me naked. During the interrogation, the soldiers extinguished cigarettes on my body, poured hydrochloric acid on me, and burned my back with a lighter. Because of these burns, I lost the sight in my left eye[5].” This testimony reveals patterns of torture that go beyond beating and direct physical harm to include compound practices based on bodily humiliation, psychological violation, and deliberate mutilation.

These testimonies document a pattern of sexual violence that begins with threats of sexual assault, passes through forced stripping, and reaches actual sexual assaults, including against minors. These included beatings to the genitals and forced sexual assaults using various tools. In one testimony, a detainee recounts that during torture he was raped with a wooden object that was forcibly inserted into his body more than once, and was later forced to put it in his mouth[6], in a practice that combines sexual assault, physical torture, and deliberate humiliation. The testimonies also speak of other methods of torture, including electric shocks, causing burns by extinguishing cigarettes or pouring boiling liquids on bodies, in addition to beatings with sticks and setting dogs on prisoners.

The methods of torture used also vary beyond the previously mentioned tools. In the series “The Story of a Prisoner and a Journey of Suffering,” one prisoner recounts being exposed to sunlight and high temperatures for long periods, and then transferred to extremely low temperatures, causing a sharp sensation of cold due to the dampness of the body. These methods continue for days or even months, to the extent the prisoner can endure before reaching the stage of having his will broken.[7]

On the other hand, psychological abuse constitutes one of the dimensions of violence inside prisons, as the matter is not limited to physical torture but also extends to systematic practices of humiliation aimed at breaking prisoners morally and humanly. In this context, testimonies from released prisoners indicate that they were filmed while naked, forced to apologize for acts they did not commit, and compelled to repeat slogans such as “The people of Israel live,” in addition to being subjected to spitting and direct humiliation by soldiers.

This psychological humiliation intersects with harsh living conditions inside places of detention, including severe overcrowding inside cells, filthy facilities, prolonged shackling of hands and feet, and deprivation of showers and changes of clothes. One detainee testified: “Because we were bound with plastic restraints the entire time, and they were very tight throughout that period, this caused the skin and flesh tissue in my wrists to erode. The bleeding was continuous to the point that the bones in both my hands became exposed.” This contributed to the spread of contagious skin diseases, most notably scabies, with the report indicating the registration of 1,437 cases inside prisons. These policies also extend to Palestinian female prisoners, who are deprived of women’s sanitary products and necessary treatment, in addition to pregnant women being denied the required medical care. This reveals that the deterioration in health and living conditions is not a side effect of detention, but rather part of a systematic and coercive punitive environment.

Accordingly, it can be said that Israeli prisons are no longer merely places of detention but have been transformed into torture camps[8] in which multiple forms of physical, psychological, and sexual violence are practiced within a systematic punitive environment aimed at breaking prisoners and subjugating them.

The Culmination of a Path of Escalation: The New Death Penalty Law as a Model

As a continuation of an integrated path of internal escalation through the “prison” and external escalation through the “broader Palestinian public sphere,” the Jewish Power party/Otzma Yehudit (עוצמה יהודית), led by Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Israeli Minister of National Security, together with Yisrael Beiteinu (ישראל ביתנו), led by Knesset member Avigdor Lieberman, introduced a bill to execute Palestinian prisoners, referred to as the “Death Penalty for Terrorists Law” / עונש מוות למחבלים.[9] It may also be possible to link the timing of the bill’s introduction to the approach of the election period, in a way that strengthens Ben-Gvir’s popular base through his promotion of this law.

According to the bill, “any resident of the Area who intentionally causes the death of a person shall be punished by death, as a primary penalty, if the act was a terrorist act according to the definition in the 2016 Counter-Terrorism Law.” However, the military court may, if it finds special reasons to be recorded in writing, impose life imprisonment instead. The accompanying version also included amendments allowing the death penalty to be imposed in Israeli civil courts in certain cases of killings classified as terrorism, and the enforcement provisions stipulated that execution would be by hanging within 90 days of the final judgment, with some procedural safeguards reduced. [10]

The death penalty law for prisoners is no longer merely a bill under discussion; it has moved to the level of legislative approval after the Israeli Knesset voted in favor of it by a majority of 62 votes to 48, with one abstention. Although the first draft pushed by Itamar Ben-Gvir tended toward imposing death as a mandatory punishment, without any real room for appeal or sentence mitigation, the later amendments introduced out of concern over international repercussions did not alter the core of the bill so much as they reorganized it in a formally less severe version. The amendments stated that “whoever intentionally causes the death of a person with the aim of negating the existence of the State of Israel shall be tried only by death or life imprisonment.” This differs from the original formulation, which stated that “the terrorist who carried out a terrorist attack with the aim of harming the State of Israel shall be tried only by death.” [11]

It is worth noting that the law is not considered in force unless it passes with the approval of the Israeli Supreme Court, and if approved, it becomes effective and available for use three months after the date of its approval. In addition, the law does not apply retroactively, and prisoners who have already been tried cannot be retried. [12]

In this context, the law distinguishes between the death penalty for a “terrorist” in Judea and Samaria and the death penalty under Israeli law[13]. In the first case, the death penalty is made the default rule, while judges are granted only limited discretion to depart from it and impose life imprisonment in exceptional cases requiring special justification, without requiring unanimity among the judges or opening the door to pardon or sentence reduction. As stated in the text of the law, according to the Israel Democracy Institute, “A resident of the Area who intentionally causes the death of a person, and the act was a terrorist act as defined in the 2016 Counter-Terrorism Law, shall be punished by death, and by this punishment alone. However, if the military court finds, for special reasons to be recorded, that there are special circumstances justifying the imposition of life imprisonment, it may impose this punishment alone[14].” It cannot be said that such a judgment would be fair, because the body that would implement and approve these rulings is the military judicial apparatus of the occupying forces in the West Bank.

Accordingly, the law does not merely intensify punishment; rather, it establishes a legal duality that subjects Palestinians in the West Bank, “Judea and Samaria,” to a harsher and broader path toward execution. The second track, which clarifies the death penalty in general Israeli law, does not consider it sufficient merely to cause the death of a person within an act classified as terrorism; rather, it requires that the act have been committed with the intent of negating the existence of the State of Israel. Thus, Israeli law links the death penalty to a specific political-ideological intent, and not merely to killing. For this reason, the standard here is more restrictive than the Judea and Samaria formula, which appears broader and harsher. The text also states that the only possible punishments are death or life imprisonment, and those two punishments alone, meaning that the space for alternative penalties is narrowed. As stated in the law: “Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), whoever intentionally causes the death of a person, with the intent of negating the existence of the State of Israel, and under the circumstances mentioned in subsection (a)(10), shall be punished by death or life imprisonment, and by one of these two punishments alone.” [15]

Therefore, the distinction the law establishes between the Judea and Samaria track and the track of general Israeli law does not mean a distribution of punishment between Palestinian and Israeli, which would reflect a clear apartheid structure; rather, it reflects a multiplicity of legal tracks specifically designated to target the Palestinian himself. The first track applies primarily to Palestinians in the West Bank who are subject to military courts, where the punishment is death only, unless there are special reasons justifying a life sentence. The second track remains a civil framework within Israeli law that may be used in other cases involving Palestinians falling within Israeli jurisdiction, where the punishment is either death or life imprisonment and is specifically tied to the intent of negating the existence of the State of Israel, unlike Judea and Samaria where the condition is that the act be “terrorist.” Thus, the law does not produce a duality between Palestinian and Israeli so much as it produces a duality within the punitive structure directed at Palestinians according to their legal and geographic position. [16]

Based on the text of the law, it can be said that the death penalty acquires a broad and elastic character, such that it is not tied only to a narrowly defined criminal act. Rather, it is also opened to broad classifications such as “terrorism” or an act committed with the intent of undermining the existence of the State of Israel. Thus, the problem lies not only in the punishment itself, but also in the breadth of the interpretive field that precedes it, allowing an expansion of the circle of those who may be included within this description and granting the authorities wider room to impose a terrorist character on multiple acts, which makes resort to execution more susceptible to political and security instrumentalization.

In this context, the death penalty law does not appear to be an isolated measure, but rather one link in a broader path of escalation that reorganizes punishment inside and outside the prison, at a time when the rules of international humanitarian law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention, affirm the need to protect persons living under occupation and to ensure that penal procedures are not transformed into an open tool of subjugation and coercion. Article 72 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: “A convicted person shall have the right to use the means of appeal provided for by the legislation applied by the court. He shall be fully informed of his rights of appeal and of the time-limits within which these rights may be exercised.”[17] This grants the right to appeal a judgment, which is what the occupation cancels in the new law. Article 75 also states: “In no case shall persons sentenced to death be deprived of the right of petition for pardon or reprieve. No death sentence shall be carried out before the expiration of a period of at least six months from the date on which the Protecting Power receives notice of the final judgment confirming the death sentence, or of an order denying pardon or reprieve.[18]” This, too, contradicts the occupation’s law, which makes the execution period 90 days from the issuance of the decision.

Ultimately, this integrated internal and external environment, with its multiple political, legal, and social actors, both official and unofficial, produces a form of expulsive environment that extends into the broader Palestinian reality, such that the tools of repression and punishment work together to push Palestinians toward further exhaustion, restriction, and loss of the conditions necessary for a safe life.

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[1] France 24, “Israeli Knesset: Palestine… Death Penalty Law for ‘Terror’ Deadly Attacks Raises Concern Among Rights Advocates,” March 30, 2026,  الكنيست الإسرائيلي يقر قانونا لإعدام المدانين بهجمات دامية وسط قلق دولي – فرانس 24 / France 24

[2] B’Tselem, Welcome to Hell: The Israeli Prison System as a Network of Torture Camps, January 2026, 202601_living_hell_arb.pdf

[3] B’Tselem, Welcome to Hell: The Israeli Prison System as a Network of Torture Camps, January 2026, 202601_living_hell_arb.pdf

[4] Physicians for Human Rights–Israel, The Death of Palestinians Held by Israeli Authorities: Concealment, Systematic Killing, and Cover-Up, November 2025, https://www.phr.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/6538_Death_custody_Paper_Arab.pdf

[5] B’Tselem, Welcome to Hell: The Israeli Prison System as a Network of Torture Camps, January 2026, Muhammad Abu Tawila (35 years old), father of a one-year-old child, resident of Gaza City | B’Tselemمحمد أبو طويلة, (35 عامًا)، أب لطفل (سنة واحدة)، من سكان مدينة غزة | بتسيلم

[6] B’Tselem, Welcome to Hell: The Israeli Prison System as a Network of Torture Camps, January 2026, Tamer Qarmout (41 years old), father of five, resident of Beit Lahia | B’Tselem تامر قرموط, (41 عامًا)، أب لخمسة, من سكان بيت لاهيا | بتسيلم

[7] Al Jazeera, A Prisoner’s Story and a Journey of Suffering Series, April 1, 2026, https://youtube.com/shorts/Cl0Mm3WJG0c?si=LguC3FxbB_g73x6w

[8] B’Tselem, Welcome to Hell: The Israeli Prison System as a Network of Torture Camps, August 2024, https://www.btselem.org/sites/default/files/publications/202408_welcome_to_hell_arb.pdf

[9] Israel Hayom, The Knesset Approved: The Death Penalty for Terrorists Law Passed in Its Second and Third Readings, March 31, 2026, https://www.israelhayom.co.il/news/politics/article/20233675

[10] Maariv, With Netanyahu and Deri Participating: The Death Penalty for Terrorists Law Will Be Discussed Today, March 30, 2026, https://www.maariv.co.il/news/politics/article-1303117

[11] Israel Hayom, Last-Minute Changes to the Wording of the Death Penalty for Terrorists Law | Making Sense of It, March 30, 2026, https://www.israelhayom.co.il/news/politics/article/20228175

[12] Al Mamlaka TV, Details of the Draft Law on the Execution of Palestinian Prisoners?, March 31, 2026, https://www.facebook.com/AlMamlakaTV/videos/3423763681124493/

[13] net, With Netanyahu’s Support: The Death Penalty for Terrorists Law Was Approved, March 31, 2026, https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/skkoik00o11e#google_vignette

[14] The Israel Democracy Institute, Proposed Law: Death Penalty for Terrorists, March 30, 2026.

Attention Required! | Cloudflare

[15] The Israel Democracy Institute, Proposed Law: Death Penalty for Terrorists, March 30, 2026.

Attention Required! | Cloudflare

[16] Al Mamlaka TV, The “Arab Front for Change” Bloc in the Israeli Knesset Praises the King’s Stance and His Refusal to Meet Netanyahu, March 31, 2026, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOkZc9DnRf8

[17] University of Minnesota, Human Rights Library, Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, August 12, 1949, https://hrlibrary.umn.edu/arab/b093.html

[18] University of Minnesota, Human Rights Library, Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, August 12, 1949, https://hrlibrary.umn.edu/arab/b093.html