A group of eight countries has issued a statement strongly condemning Israel’s newly passed law enabling the death penalty for certain convicted terrorists in the West Bank, warning it could further escalate tensions in the region.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Qatar, Türkiye, and the UAE denounced what they described as the Israeli “occupying power’s enactment” of legislation allowing capital punishment to be imposed in the West Bank and ‘applied against Palestinians.’
The law mandates the death penalty for non-Israeli residents convicted of carrying out deadly terrorist attacks, unless a military court determines there are exceptional circumstances warranting life imprisonment instead.
Under the legislation, Israeli military courts are granted expanded authority to issue death sentences without some of the previous procedural constraints, including the need for unanimous judicial approval. The law also limits the ability of authorities to commute such sentences and stipulates that executions be carried out within a defined timeframe.