The Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession (ACIJLP) strongly condemns the issuance by the Israeli parliament of a law permitting the application of the death penalty to Palestinian prisoners under the authority of the occupation, notwithstanding the abolition of the death penalty for murder in Israel since 1954. This constitutes a clear violation of the provisions of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, which prohibits the conviction of any prisoner of war for an act that is not expressly prohibited by the law of the detaining power. Moreover, prisoners of war in situations of occupation are entitled to the protections afforded by international humanitarian law governing the treatment of detainees in times of war.
The ACIJLP further notes that the occupying authority does not possess the right to impose the death penalty for any offense without the consent of the state to which the prisoners belong. Article 100 of the Third Geneva Convention stipulates that “Prisoners of war and the Protecting Powers shall be informed as soon as possible of the offences which are punishable by the death sentence under the laws of the Detaining Power. Other offences shall not thereafter be made punishable by the death penalty without the concurrence of the Power upon which the prisoners of war depend” — namely, the Palestinian National Authority.
To read the full statement, please open the link :
Cairo, 31 March 2026
