Palestinians in West Bank protest and strike over proposed Israeli death penalty law

Protesters in the Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem took to the streets on Wednesday to demonstrate against a new Israeli law that imposes the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks. The Fatah party, led by Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, had called for a general strike, with shops and public institutions closing their doors in protest.

Hundreds of people gathered in Ramallah to march against the law, which was backed by Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Demonstrators chanted slogans condemning the law and calling on the international community to reverse its passage. In Nablus, protesters carried signs warning that time was running out, with one sign reading “Stop the law to execute prisoners, before it’s too late.”

The law, passed in the Israeli parliament on Monday, applies to Palestinians convicted by military courts of carrying out deadly attacks classified as “terrorism.” It creates a separate and harsher legal track for those tried in military courts. In contrast, Israeli civilian courts allow for either death or life imprisonment for those convicted of killing with intent to harm the state.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, has condemned the law, stating that its applications would constitute a war crime. Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups have also expressed concerns about the law’s impact on detainees, who face torture, starvation, and medical neglect. Over 9,500 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons, including 350 children and 73 women.

Protesters reported being met with force by Israeli soldiers at some checkpoints, including the Qalandia checkpoint, where eyewitnesses said that rubber-coated bullets, stun grenades, and tear gas were used to disperse the crowd. Despite this, no injuries had been reported. The protests are part of a broader trend of violence in the region, which has soared since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023.

Source: Al Jazeera