Execution Law for Prisoners: Palestinian Authority's Options to Confront 'Legislation of Killing' and Internationalize the Issue

The families of Palestinian prisoners are living in a state of existential anxiety following the Israeli Knesset's final approval of the execution law for prisoners, a legislation that grants the occupation authorities legal cover to carry out death sentences against detainees. Rabia Bilal, an elderly woman from Nablus, embodies this pain, as her son Moaz and three of her grandchildren are behind bars. She considers this law to represent the peak of psychological and physical abuse against prisoners' families.

The law effectively came into force at the end of last March, after receiving parliamentary majority support within the Knesset, exclusively targeting Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis. This legislation comes at a time when the number of prisoners in jails exceeds 9,500, hundreds of whom face life sentences, putting their lives in imminent danger under the guillotine of the new laws.

Prisoners' families confirm that conditions inside prisons have severely deteriorated since October 7, with news of detainees cut off due to visitation bans and lawyers being prevented from communicating. Testimonies from released prisoners indicate that detainees have been subjected to systematic beatings and starvation, to the extent that some refuse to meet with lawyers to avoid the abuse they endure during transport.

On the official level, the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs affirmed that the issue of prisoners has been placed at the top of the diplomatic priorities for action in international forums. The Commission, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Palestinian embassies, seeks to leverage the global momentum rejecting the death penalty to pressure the Israeli government and halt the implementation of this unjust law.

Legal officials in the Commission explained that action is proceeding on multiple tracks, starting with submitting formal complaints to the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights. Work is also underway to prepare comprehensive legal files for submission to the International Criminal Court, despite the field obstacles placed by the occupation to prevent the documentation of violations.

Palestinian legal efforts face severe challenges, most notably the occupation authorities' prevention of international fact-finding teams and representatives of the International Criminal Court from entering Palestinian territories or visiting prisons. This deliberate obfuscation hinders access to facts and provides a fertile environment for the continuation of crimes against prisoners away from international oversight.

Experts in international law believe that the approval of this law represents a structural shift in Israeli policy, where execution moves from being an exception to the center of policy directed against Palestinians. Through it, the occupation aims to redefine the Palestinian fighter as a 'hostile actor' subject to legal liquidation, bypassing all rules of international humanitarian law.

The European arena is considered one of the most important pressure windows available to the Palestinian Authority, given the existence of a partnership agreement linking economic cooperation with Israel to respect for human rights. Palestinian diplomacy can activate this agreement to transform Israeli violations into tangible economic and political costs that pressure decision-makers in Tel Aviv.

Specialists emphasize the necessity of requesting an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice and activating the role of the Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly more effectively. Internationalizing the issue and transforming it into a file of individual accountability for Israeli leaders represents a 'raising the cost' strategy that may curb Israeli legislative overreach.

The Palestinian Authority possesses bilateral political tools that can be employed as direct pressure cards, including redefining the contractual relationship with the occupation and reducing security coordination. These steps, despite their sensitivity, fall within a comprehensive national strategy aimed at protecting prisoners from the imminent danger of execution.

Political analysts point out that the danger of the law also lies in the attempt to strip the Palestinian resistance of its national liberation character and transform it into a 'criminal act.' This legal circumvention seeks to break Palestinian will and legitimize the killing of Palestinians under misleading legal pretexts before the international community.

Observers believe that the Palestinian Authority suffers from an inability to confront these policies due to the international and financial pressures it has faced in recent years. Nevertheless, hope remains in global popular movements and international human rights pressure, which may find resonance within the hesitant Israeli judicial institution to implement the law.

Analysts warned that relying entirely on international pressure could be a 'double-edged sword,' as international powers might demand political concessions from the Authority in exchange for intervention in the prisoners' file. This complexity requires building a unified strategy that combines international law, political pressure, and comprehensive media mobilization.

Ultimately, the cry of 'Um Bakr' and the mothers of thousands of prisoners remains the primary driver of the issue, as they await international justice to save their sons from the occupation's guillotine. Confronting the execution law is not just a legal battle; it is a real test of the international system's ability to protect human rights in the face of racist legislation.

The occupation seeks to deprive prisoners of everything, even after they have spent long years, but our hope is placed in God alone in the absence of human justice.