Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus on Tuesday strongly criticized a new Israeli law allowing the death penalty for Palestinians, calling it discriminatory and a threat to fundamental legal principles.
In a statement shared on Turkish social media platform NSosyal, Kurtulmus said the measure establishes a separate penal framework for Israeli citizens, creating an unequal legal system based on identity.
He described it as "an attempt to entrench the de facto occupation under the guise of criminal law," adding it represents "a dangerous threshold that turns state power into an authority to impose death based on identity."
"A discriminatory penal regime based on ethnic identity is being reinforced. Prescribing the death penalty for one group and a different sanction for another for the same act is not lawful; it is a clear persecution," he said.
He also accused the Israeli government of using the judicial system to extend policies from Gaza to the West Bank. He warned that any attempt to execute Palestinians under occupation would violate fundamental principles, including the right to a fair trial.
"The Netanyahu government has once again shown that this is about entrenching a system of domination that does not recognize the Palestinian people as equal human beings before the law," he said.
The legislation, adopted by Israel's parliament, the Knesset, with the support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, paves the way for capital punishment in cases involving Palestinians accused of acts described as "terror" resulting in deaths.
The Knesset passed the law on Monday evening by 62-48 votes. Netanyahu voted in favor.
The law allows execution by hanging, carried out by prison guards appointed by the Israeli Prison Service, with their identities kept secret and granting them legal immunity. Courts can issue death sentences without a request from prosecutors and by a simple majority, rather than a unanimous decision.
It also applies to military courts handling cases involving Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and allows the defense minister to present an opinion before the court.
Kurtulmus warned the law would deepen a "legitimacy crisis" in the international system and urged countries not to issue only "weak statements."
"If the international community overlooks this abhorrent decision by the Israeli parliament with a few weak statements, it will have emboldened the Israeli government and similar discriminatory practices," he said.
He called on governments to defend human life as a universal value or risk remaining silent in the face of a system of law that varies by identity. He said Türkiye would continue to follow the issue and reiterated calls for action through parliaments, international organizations, and legal institutions.
Kurtulmus added that steps aimed at making the occupation permanent would be condemned by public opinion and further undermine Israel's legitimacy.
Israel last carried out an execution in 1962, and the law is expected to face review by the Supreme Court. The measure has faced domestic criticism; around 1,200 Israeli figures, including Nobel laureates, former military officials, and former Supreme Court judges, opposed it in February, calling it a "moral stain."
More than 9,500 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons, including 350 children and 73 women. Human rights groups say detainees face torture, starvation, and medical neglect, causing dozens of deaths.
Since October 2023, Israel has intensified measures against Palestinian prisoners alongside its war in Gaza, conducted with US support. The conflict has killed more than 72,000 people and wounded 172,000 others, most of them women and children.
