Israeli Prison Service begins logistical preparations to carry out death sentences against Palestinian prisoners

Hebrew media sources revealed that the Israeli Prison Service has begun taking practical and field steps in recent days, aimed at preparing to carry out the death penalty against Palestinian prisoners. These moves come after the Israeli Knesset approved in its first reading a bill that allows for the imposition of this penalty on those Israel accuses of carrying out or planning armed attacks against Israeli targets.

The logistical plan that the Prison Service is developing includes the establishment of a special and separate complex within prisons exclusively for carrying out death sentences, which the security system has named the 'Israeli Green Corridor'. Preparations include setting precise protocols for the procedures to be followed and training the human resources that will oversee the process, with efforts to benefit from the experiences of foreign countries that still apply similar penalties in their judicial systems.

According to leaked details, the proposed execution mechanism will rely on hanging, where three prison guards will simultaneously press the activation button to ensure the distribution of direct responsibility. It has been decided that the executing teams will be selected on a voluntary basis from among the guards, provided that they undergo specialized psychological and technical training to deal with these new tasks in the Israeli punitive system.

The sources indicated that the proposed timeline stipulates the execution of the death sentence within only 90 days from the date of the final judicial ruling against the prisoner. Israeli authorities are expected to first apply this law to members of Hamas's 'elite unit' who were arrested following the October 7, 2023 attack, before the scope of application expands to include prisoners convicted of operations in the West Bank.

In the context of international preparations, a high-level delegation from the Israeli Prison Service intends to travel soon to an East Asian country on an official visit aimed at studying the legal, organizational, and technical aspects followed there in carrying out death sentences. This visit aims to transfer knowledge and avoid procedural loopholes that might hinder the implementation of the penalty once the law is finally approved in the remaining readings in the Knesset.

On the international level, these Israeli moves were met with sharp criticism from United Nations experts, with 12 international experts warning of the repercussions of proceeding with this legislation. In a joint statement, the experts affirmed that the Israeli military law applied in the occupied Palestinian territories contradicts the principles of international law, considering the imposition of the death penalty an irreparable violation of the fundamental right to life.

UN experts clarified that the proposed bill is clearly discriminatory, as it imposes the death penalty for acts that may lead to death even if there was no prior intent to kill. They pointed out that the current wording exclusively targets Palestinians, which reinforces the system of legal discrimination practiced by the occupation authorities against the population under their military control in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The controversial bill stipulates the imposition of the death penalty on anyone who intentionally or unintentionally causes the death of an Israeli citizen for motives described as 'racist' or aimed at harming the state. This wording reveals double standards, as it allows for the application of the maximum penalty to Palestinians in the event of killing Israelis, while providing no similar legal mechanism for its application to settlers or Israelis who commit murders against Palestinians.

The bill represents a blatant violation of the right to life and constitutes systematic discrimination against Palestinians in the occupied territories.