RAMALLAH, May 18, 2026 (WAFA) – The Palestinian Prisoner's Society (PPS) stated that “amending the military orders applied in the West Bank, which expand the application of the death penalty against Palestinian prisoners before Israeli military courts, constitutes a dangerous new escalation in the context of the genocidal colonial project practiced by the Israeli occupation regime against Palestinian people.”
In a statement issued today, Monday, the PPS explained that expanding the application of the death penalty, approximately two months after the enactment of the so-called “Execution of Prisoners Law,” and shortly after the enactment of the law establishing special courts for Gaza detainees whom the occupation authorities claim participated in the events of October 7, 2023, reaffirms the magnitude of the existential threats facing Palestinians in light of systematic international inaction and the occupation’s continued disregard for all international calls and demands to halt its racist and genocidal legislation, and in light of international complicity that has provided the occupation with political and legal cover to continue its crimes.
PPS added that the Israeli occupation has not only carried out extrajudicial killings of Palestinians through daily field executions and slow executions within prisons and detention camps, but is also rapidly working to legalize these crimes and provide them with legislative and judicial cover. This is an attempt to entrench a colonial legal system that legitimizes killing and transforms military courts into tools for perpetuating the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.
The PPS continued, stating that these laws come at a time when crimes committed by armed settlers in the West Bank are escalating. These settlers have become key partners in carrying out killings and executions of Palestinians, under the direct protection of the Israeli occupation army, and within the framework of an official policy aimed at entrenching organized terrorism against Palestinian people and pushing Palestinians toward further targeting, erasure, and displacement.
It affirmed that the overall picture of what the Palestinian people are facing today—a comprehensive war of extermination, policies of erasure, starvation, arrest, torture, and mass killing—has reached its historical peak. This is no longer just a Palestinian issue; it has become a moral and humanitarian test for the entire world, which is witnessing the annihilation of an entire people before the eyes and ears of humanity, without having succeeded thus far in imposing any real accountability on the Israeli occupation system.
PPS pointed out that Israeli military laws in force in the West Bank have included provisions related to the death penalty for years. However, the occupation has not needed to activate them judicially, given its historical reliance on extrajudicial killings of Palestinians. This policy has accompanied the Israeli colonial project since its inception, with roots extending back to the colonial era during the British Mandate for Palestine. The current danger, however, lies in the occupation's attempt to transform the death penalty into an declared and codified policy, administered through an official legislative and judicial system, in the context of entrenching a system of apartheid and systematic extermination. In light of this dangerous development, the Palestinian Prisoners Club, as part of the Palestinian human rights movement, affirmed that despite repeated appeals and letters sent to relevant international bodies, the international community has failed to halt these racist laws. This necessitates a shift from mere formal condemnations to the imposition of concrete and immediate measures to hold the Israeli occupation and all its institutions accountable.
It also reiterated its demand that free nations, parliaments, and international organizations take a clear stance against the so-called Israeli Knesset, immediately terminate its membership in international parliamentary bodies, and boycott it as an institution that legitimizes genocide and enacts racist laws targeting the Palestinian presence and fundamental rights, foremost among them the right to life, liberty, and self-determination. Furthermore, it called for pressure to be exerted to dismantle the Israeli military courts.
PPS emphasized that it will continue to appeal to freedom-loving people worldwide and all forces opposed to colonialism and racism, based on the Palestinians' inalienable right to freedom and self-determination, and in defense of Palestinian prisoners who are currently facing the most dangerous phase in the history of the Palestinian prisoners' movement.
It also affirmed that Israel's continued impunity and the world's treatment of Israel as a colonial power above the law threaten the entire international humanitarian and legal system, and pave the way for the collapse of the values and standards that peoples have struggled for decades to establish and protect.
K.T
