NEW YORK, May 1, 2026 (WAFA) – A United Nations committee on Friday urged the Israeli occupation authorities to immediately repeal a recent law that institutionalizes state-sanctioned killing of Palestinian prisoners.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination urged Israel to immediately repeal the so-called “Death Penalty for Terrorists Law”, adding that Israel should “ensure that all Palestinian detainees held in Israeli military or civilian detention are guaranteed their rights to equal treatment before the law, security of person, protection against violence or bodily harm, and access to justice.”
“Israel’s newly-adopted “Death Penalty for Terrorists Law” perpetuates racial discrimination against Palestinians and amounts to a grave erosion of human rights,” the UN Committee added.
It expressed alarm that “the law mandates death by hanging as the default sentence for cases involving an “act of terrorism” before Israeli military courts. Those courts have exclusive jurisdiction over Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, while Israeli citizens and residents are explicitly excluded from its application.”
It noted that “the new law is a severe blow to human rights, rolling back Israel’s long-standing de facto moratorium on executions since 1962 and expanding the use of the death penalty in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including the West Bank and East Jerusalem.”
It highlighted its concern that in Israel, “the law applies only to those convicted of deliberate killing with the intent of ‘denying the existence of the State of Israel’, rendering it de facto applicable to Palestinians only.”
It further noted that “the law prohibits mitigation, commutation or pardon of the death penalty and sets a 90-day deadline for executions once a final judgment is rendered.”
It pointed out that the law was adopted amid escalating colonist violence and unlawful killings of Palestinians with impunity across the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as well as ongoing, systematic violations of Palestinians’ due process and fair trial rights. As of January 2026, 9,243 Palestinians were in Israeli custody, including 3,385 administrative detainees held without trial.
It also called on Israel to “end all policies and practices that amount to racial discrimination against and segregation of Palestinians.”
It recalled that under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, States Parties are required to “eliminate racial discrimination, condemn and eradicate practices of segregation and apartheid, guarantee equality before the law without distinction as to race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin, and ensure effective protection and remedies against racial discrimination,” while noting that Israel ratified the Convention in 1979.
The Committee further called upon all States Parties “to assume their obligations under the Convention and ensure that their resources are not used to enforce or support discriminatory policies and practices against Palestinians living in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”, in accordance with the recommendations of the Ad Hoc Conciliation Commission and the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice.
K.F.
