The UN human rights chief urged Israel on Tuesday to revoke its death penalty law, warning against legislative steps targeting Palestinians in violation of international law.
Volker Turk encouraged Tel Aviv to step back from the controversial law, which applies "almost exclusively to Palestinians."
"It is deeply disappointing that this bill has been approved by the Knesset," he said, highlighting that it is patently inconsistent with Israel's international law obligations, including in relation to the right to life.
"It raises serious concerns about due process violations, is deeply discriminatory, and must be promptly repealed," said Turk.
Noting that the controversial law provides that the death sentences, once imposed, must be carried out within 90 days, Turk warned that it is a violation of international humanitarian law.
"The death penalty is profoundly difficult to reconcile with human dignity, and it raises the unacceptable risk of executing innocent people," he added.
Turk noted that its application to residents of the occupied Palestinian territory "would constitute a war crime."
The UN human rights chief also expressed alarm at proposals in another bill before the Knesset to establish a Special (Military) Court exclusively to prosecute crimes committed during and in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Palestinian armed groups.
Israel's Knesset passed the law Monday, making the death penalty the default punishment for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank convicted of lethal attacks against Israelis.
More than 9,300 Palestinians, including 350 children and 66 women, are being held in Israeli prisons, according to prisoner rights groups and the Israeli Prison Service.
