Israeli parliament mandates death penalty for most Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis

The Israeli Parliament passed a law Monday that approves the death penalty for Palestinians who are convicted of murdering Israeli citizens.

The legislation makes death by hanging the default punishment for Palestinians on Gaza's West Bank who are convicted of nationalistic killings of Jewish Israelis, according to the Associated Press, and Israeli military courts are directed to mete out the sentence to those convicted of murdering an Israeli “as an act of terror.”

It also allows courts to impose the death penalty or life imprisonment on Israeli citizens convicted of murdering other Israelis.

“From today, every terrorist will know, and the whole world will know, that whoever takes a life, the State of Israel will take their life,” Israeli lawmaker Ben Gvir said in a statement.

Limor Son Har-Melech, a member of the Knesset who sponsored the bill, stated that the passage of the law means that there will be “no more cycle of murder, imprisonment and release in deals, but a clear determination. Whoever chooses to murder Jews because they are Jews forfeits their right to live,” according to JNS.

The Knesset issued a statement that the Death Penalty for Terrorists Bill requires that a “resident of the area, except for an Israeli citizen or Israel resident, who intentionally caused the death of a person in an act of terrorism, shall be imposed with the death penalty, unless the military court finds that special circumstances exist under which it is appropriate to impose a sentence of life imprisonment.”

The legislation calls for the death penalty to go into effect within 30 days, but Israel's Association of Civil Rights said it has petitioned Israel’s highest court in a challenge to the law.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.