GENEVA - Israel's newly adopted "Death Penalty for Terrorists Law" perpetuates racial discrimination against Palestinians and amounts to a grave erosion of human rights, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination warned today, urging Israel to immediately repeal the law.
The Committee expressed alarm that the law mandates death by hanging as the default sentence for cases involving an "act of terrorism" before Israeli military courts. Those courts have exclusive jurisdiction over Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, while Israeli citizens and residents are explicitly excluded from its application.
Acting under its Early Warning and Urgent Action Procedure, as well as in follow up to the recommendations made by the Ad Hoc Conciliation Commission on the inter-State communication submitted by the State of Palestine against Israel, the Committee said the new law is a severe blow to human rights, rolling back Israel's long-standing de facto moratorium on executions since 1962 and expanding the use of the death penalty in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The Committee highlighted its concern that in Israel, "the law applies only to those convicted of deliberate killing with the intent of 'denying the existence of the State of Israel', rendering it de facto applicable to Palestinians only."
It further noted that the law prohibits mitigation, commutation or pardon of the death penalty and sets a 90-day deadline for executions once a final judgment is rendered.
The Committee said the law was adopted amid escalating settler violence and unlawful killings of Palestinians with impunity across the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as well as ongoing, systematic violations of Palestinians' due process and fair trial rights. As of January 2026, 9,243 Palestinians were in Israeli custody, including 3,385 administrative detainees held without trial.
It urged Israel to immediately repeal the law, adding that the State Party should "ensure that all Palestinian detainees held in Israeli military or civilian detention are guaranteed their rights to equal treatment before the law, security of person, protection against violence or bodily harm, and access to justice."
It also called on Israel to end all policies and practices that amount to racial discrimination against and segregation of Palestinians.
Under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, States Parties are required to eliminate racial discrimination, condemn and eradicate practices of segregation and apartheid, guarantee equality before the law without distinction as to race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin, and ensure effective protection and remedies against racial discrimination. Israel ratified the Convention in 1979.
The Committee further called upon all States Parties "to assume their obligations under the Convention and ensure that their resources are not used to enforce or support discriminatory policies and practices against Palestinians living in the Occupied Palestinian Territory", in accordance with the recommendations of the Ad Hoc Conciliation Commission and the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice.
The full statement is now available online.
