The Israeli Knesset has passed a bill mandating the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis. Rod Goodbun, Oxfam Australia's spokesperson, responded:
"This Bill is another horrifying act of violence which proves the system of institutionalised discrimination and systematic oppression of the Palestinian people. The Israeli government has granted itself another means to dehumanise, suppress, and kill Palestinians. Israel's government is violating international law.
"This new law effectively ensures that the death penalty in Israel will apply only to Palestinians, even as the illegal Israeli occupation has lately seen a surge in the coordinated attacks and executions of Palestinians by settler militias and military. Israel holds more than nine thousand Palestinians in its jails – many unlawfully and subject to inhumane conditions, starvation and torture as state policy.
"Governments must now use all political and economic tools at their disposal to pressure the Israeli government to immediately row back on the decision. All red lines have been crossed, including fast-tracked annexation and mass forced displacement, entrenching a one-state reality of an illegal prolonged occupation."
Ends
Notes to editor
Human Rights Group's on Israel’s Death Penalty Law against Palestinians – stoptorture
