The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) warned on Monday that recent revelations by Israel’s Channel 13 about preparations and operational planning for implementing the so‑called “Detainee Execution Law” signal a clear move toward the imminent approval of the legislation.
In its statement, PPS said the proposed law represents the “peak of the ongoing genocide” against Palestinian detainees, effectively transforming Israeli prisons into open arenas for torture, starvation, and the killing of more detainees through systematic slow‑death policies.
The organization noted that efforts to advance this legislation reflect an unprecedented level of brutality.
PPS, together with specialized institutions, has issued multiple statements and papers documenting the long‑standing pattern of extrajudicial killings carried out by Israeli authorities—whether through assassinations, torture during interrogation, denial of medical treatment, or field executions, all of which have sharply escalated since the start of the ongoing genocide.
PPS stressed that the newly revealed mechanism for implementing the execution law is simply another step toward formalizing a crime practiced for decades, now being codified through laws, regulations, and military orders.
It added that the bodies of Palestinians returned after the ceasefire agreement provide direct evidence of executions carried out against hundreds of people in the Gaza Strip, including detainees.
The organization said Israel, backed by international powers—chief among them the United States—continues to systematically violate the international human rights system, acting as a state above the law and beyond accountability.
The genocide, it added, has exposed the international community’s failure and complicity in a system of colonial domination and killing.
PPS emphasized that the brutality of the occupation has reached a level that defies legal description. Israel has not only killed dozens of political prisoners and detainees since the start of the genocide but is now seeking to entrench execution as an official policy through dedicated legislation.
The organization said the advancement of the execution bill to its first reading in the Knesset was not surprising given the unprecedented level of violence practiced by the Israeli regime, which has turned prisons into one of the arenas of the ongoing genocide extending from Gaza to all detention sites.
It noted that the Israeli colonial system has, for decades, imposed slow‑death policies on hundreds of detainees through systematic tools and methods that have led to the deaths of dozens.
These policies have escalated sharply since the start of the genocide, since October 7, 2023, making the current period the deadliest in the history of the Palestinian detainee movement.
Since the beginning of the genocide, 87 detainees have been confirmed killed in Israeli custody, in addition to dozens of detainees from Gaza who were executed and remain forcibly disappeared.
PPS stressed that the execution bill is not new; it exists within Israel’s legal framework, parts of which were inherited from the British Mandate. Its application has shifted over time, always shaped by political agendas within Israel.
With the rise of the most extreme right‑wing government in Israel’s history, calls to approve the law have intensified, led by extremist minister Itamar Ben‑Gvir, members of Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu, and a broad bloc of right‑wing Knesset members.
The fate of the governing coalition has even been tied to advancing the bill, with direct support from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, turning the execution law into a central slogan of the current government.
PPS and its partner institutions renewed their call to activate universal jurisdiction to prosecute those involved in torture, war crimes, and crimes against humanity against Palestinian political prisoners and detainees.
They also urged the suspension of diplomatic, military, and economic cooperation with Israel until it fully complies with international law and stressed the need for the immediate and unconditional release of all Palestinian political prisoners, including ending administrative detention, dismantling the military court system, and conducting independent and transparent investigations into all cases of torture and deaths in custody.
The organization underscored the importance of full cooperation with the International Criminal Court, supporting its investigations, enforcing arrest warrants against those responsible for international crimes, and enabling the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit detainees and inspect detention conditions without restrictions.
