*“Knesset’s” Approval of  Law to Create Special Court for Gaza Detainees, Including Imposition of Death Penalty - Statement by Palestinian Prisoner Institutions*

May 12, 2026

The Israeli “Knesset’s” approval of a special law establishing an exceptional court for Gaza detainees whom the occupation authorities claim participated in the events of October 7, 2023 — including the imposition of the death penalty against them — constitutes a new and dangerous link in the chain of colonial legislation that entrenches the ongoing crime of genocide against the Palestinian people, including political prisoners, Palestinian prisoner institutions stated on Tuesday.

This law represents a flagrant violation of the rules of international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and a range of fundamental inalienable rights, foremost among them the right to life, the right to a fair trial, and due process guarantees, in addition to the absolute prohibition of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.

The institutions added that the provisions contained in this law cannot be separated from the racist legislative path through which the “Knesset” had previously approved in what is known as the law permitting the execution of Palestinian prisoners. Rather, it constitutes a continuation of a systematic legislative approach aimed at providing internal legal cover for the international crimes committed against the Palestinian people. This trend further entrenches the role of the “Knesset” as one of the central instruments within the Israeli colonial-terror system, which has directly contributed to the perpetuation of genocide, the continuation of comprehensive aggression, and the targeting of Palestinian existence and national and human rights.

The institutions stressed that this law comes at a time when horrific testimonies and accounts from Palestinian political prisoners and detainees continue to emerge, documenting systematic torture, starvation crimes, medical crimes, harsh isolation, sexual assaults, and policies of slow killing carried out in an organized manner inside Israeli occupation prisons and camps. The testimonies of Gaza detainees in particular constitute direct and living evidence of the ongoing crimes committed against Palestinian prisoners and detainees over more than two and a half years, within the framework of a systematic policy amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity, and representing another face of the genocide taking place inside prisons. In this regard, it should be noted that many detainees from Gaza confirmed that they “confessed” to acts they did not commit under torture.

The institutions further affirmed that the Israeli occupation system’s insistence on inventing legislative tools that legitimize the death penalty within exceptional procedures lacking even the minimum standards of justice could not have continued without the state of international paralysis and the existing political and legal complicity regarding ongoing Israeli crimes, including the crime of genocide.

In light of this dangerous development, Palestinian human rights organizations emphasize that they had previously addressed dozens of appeals and communications to the relevant international bodies, warning of the danger of these laws and their legal and humanitarian consequences. Nevertheless, the occupation authorities continue to enact and approve more racist laws that undermine the international justice system and blatantly disregard all obligations imposed on the occupying power under international law.

Despite this, we reaffirm our continued calls upon free nations and international parliamentary and human rights bodies to adopt a clear and firm position toward the so-called Israeli “Knesset,” and to work immediately toward suspending or terminating its membership in international parliaments and unions, and boycotting it as a legislative institution that legitimizes genocide, incitement to violence, and systematic racial discrimination against the Palestinian people.

We also reaffirm our continued appeals to the free people of the world, based on the Palestinian people’s established and inalienable right to self-determination, national liberation, and the freedom of prisoners and detainees. We warn that the continued impunity and treatment of “Israel” as an entity above the law and accountability will not affect the Palestinian people alone, but will undermine the entire international justice system and threaten the human values for which peoples around the world have long struggled to establish and protect.

In this context, Palestinian prisoner institutions renew their demands for the following:

• Activating the principle of universal jurisdiction to prosecute Israeli officials involved in torture, war crimes, and crimes against humanity committed against Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
• Treating the “Knesset” and Israeli occupation courts as institutions that legitimize apartheid and persecution policies, and working to isolate them internationally, including by ending their membership in international parliamentary bodies and unions.
• Ensuring the immediate and unconditional release of all Palestinian political prisoners.
• Ending the policy of arbitrary administrative detention as a grave violation of fair trial principles and personal liberty.
• Dismantling the Israeli occupation’s military court system, which is used as a tool of oppression and colonial control.
• Opening independent and transparent international investigations into all acts of torture and killings inside Israeli occupation prisons and detention centers.
• Ensuring full cooperation with the International Criminal Court, supporting its investigations, and implementing arrest warrants issued against those responsible for international crimes.
• Enabling the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit Palestinian prisoners and detainees and review their detention conditions without any restrictions or obstacles.

***ENDS***