AhlulBayt News Agency: The Israeli Knesset has approved the first reading of a bill that would allow the regime to impose the death penalty on Palestinian detainees.
On Monday, lawmakers advanced the draft legislation with 39 votes in favor and 16 against.
The bill will now be sent to the Knesset’s National Security Committee for two additional readings required for it to become law.
Far-right Israeli minister Ben Gvir issued a statement supporting the bill, claiming that the death penalty is essential for the regime’s security.
In a separate vote, the Knesset also advanced the controversial “Al Jazeera Law,” which grants the regime broad authority to shut down foreign media outlets without judicial oversight.
According to Haaretz, the Al Jazeera bill passed its first reading with 50 votes in favor and 41 opposed.
Israel has already ordered the closure of Al Jazeera’s offices, and its forces have killed hundreds of journalists to suppress transparent reporting on its actions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Last week, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the bill as a war crime and a reflection of the regime’s intensifying extremism and criminality against Palestinians.
The ministry stated that Israel’s judicial system and the Knesset serve as instruments to legitimize crimes and ensure impunity for the regime.
It added that the bill extends the regime’s genocidal policies from Gaza to the West Bank, with grave consequences for Palestinian detainees.
Both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have denounced the legislation.
Hamas described the bill as exposing Israel’s fascist nature, while Islamic Jihad warned that it endangers thousands of Palestinians with the threat of execution.
The bill allows judges to issue death sentences to Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis on “nationalistic grounds,” but does not apply to Israelis who kill Palestinians under similar circumstances.
Originally proposed by far-right Israeli factions before the October 2023 war on Gaza, the bill has resurfaced with renewed support in recent months.
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