UN Rights Chief Urges Israel to Drop Bills Mandating Death Penalty for Palestinians

Overview

• On January 2, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called on Israel to abandon draft legislation introducing mandatory death sentences.
• The proposals would require military courts in the occupied West Bank to impose the death penalty for intentional killings and would add capital punishment to Israel’s Penal Law for intentional killings defined as acts of terror.
• OHCHR says the measures are framed to apply exclusively to Palestinians and raise serious concerns about discrimination and due process in both military and civilian proceedings.
• The UN warns the drafts would retroactively cover killings tied to October 7, 2023, violating the principle of legality, and says denying Fourth Geneva Convention fair‑trial guarantees to Palestinians could amount to a war crime.
• The legislation remains before the Knesset after a first reading on November 10, 2025, with rights officials also criticizing vague offense definitions in the texts.