RAMALLAH, July 12, 2015 (WAFA) – Chairman of the Committee of Prisoners’ Affairs, Issa Qaraqe, warned on Sunday against a recent bill proposed by Israel’s Yisrael Beytenu party calling for instituting death penalty for Palestinian prisoners convicted of killing Israelis.

Qaraqe, in a statement Sunday, said such a bill stands in contradiction with international law and international humanitarian law, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and the Charter of the United Nations.

He called on the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to voice their rejection of such a bill, which, he said, handles  the issue of Palestinian prisoners captivated in Israeli jails as an unoccupied nation, which contradicts with UN resolutions regarding prisoners of war.

He noted that under the United Nations’ resolutions, Palestinians arrested by Israel, the occupying power, are consequently considered prisoners of war and should be treated as such.

“We are not Israeli nationals to have Israel’s laws apply to us. So long as we are under occupation, the Geneva Conventions and Protocols should be applied in the Occupied Palestinian Territories,' he said.

He stressed that such laws will not deter the Palestinian people from struggling to obtain their just and legitimate rights to establish a free and independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.

According to Times of Israel, the bill, proposed by Yisrael Beytenu MK Sharon Gal, ‘would make it easier for Israeli military and district courts to sentence to death those convicted of murder with nationalist motives.’

“The bill proposes that convicted “terrorists” can be sentenced to death with a simple majority of judges, rather than the unanimous decision required under current law,” it said.

Nevertheless, Israeli media added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his Likud ministers not to support the bill. As a compromise with Likud hardliners, Netanyahu announced he would form an advisory panel to debate the controversial issue, they said.

According to the Times of Israel, the bill already has the support of Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel, Culture Minister Miri Regev, Science Minister Danny Danon and Minister Ofir Akunis.

The bill was first proposed by Avigdor Lieberman, chairman of Yisrael Beytenu. Lieberman is an illegal settler of the West Bank who constantly supports settlement construction and expansion despite of its illegality in international law. He is also well known for his anti-Arab sentiments and believes that Arab residents of Israel should be transferred to the occupied Palestinian Territories.

M.N./T.R.