Moment-by-Moment: Israel Approves Death Penalty Law Targeting Palestinians

A law approved on Tuesday (31 March 2026) by Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, establishes the death penalty by hanging as punishment for Palestinians in the West Bank found guilty of killing Israelis. The law was passed with 62 votes in support and 48 against. This legislation comes amid rising military and settler attacks by Israel against Palestinians in the West Bank, as well as a series of forced arrests, under the shadow of Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry has condemned the law as a “dangerous escalation” and emphasised that Israel has no sovereignty over Palestinian land in the occupied territories. The Hamas group has denounced Israel’s approval of the death penalty law as a dangerous precedent that threatens the lives of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.