Palestinian organizations warn of potential executions of hundreds of detainees in Israel.

Nine Palestinian human rights organizations warned on Monday of Israel committing mass executions against prisoners if the proposed death penalty law presented to the Knesset is approved, noting that Tel Aviv is already practicing execution in various forms even before the law is enacted.

This came in a "position paper" issued by the nine Palestinian human rights organizations regarding the Israeli bill to impose the death penalty on Palestinian prisoners, of which a copy was received.

At the beginning of November, the Knesset's National Security Committee approved the proposal to be voted on in the first reading in the parliamentary general assembly, which sparked Palestinian, regional, and international criticism.

The proposal stipulates "the imposition of the death penalty on any person who intentionally or through negligence causes the death of an Israeli citizen out of racial hatred or to harm Israel."

Earlier on Monday, Channel 15 reported that "the death penalty bill is expected to be put to a vote in the first reading today."

The Palestinian organizations stated that the most dangerous aspect of the new legislative draft is that "it applies retroactively, which is unprecedented in any legislative process, especially in criminal laws, where they take effect immediately after issuance and publication."

They added that "this project may be formulated, according to the poles of the Israeli government, including Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, to legislate the execution of mass executions that could affect hundreds of Palestinian detainees from the elite members of the Al-Qassam Brigades who were arrested on October 7, 2023, or thereafter."

Hamas surprised Tel Aviv on October 7, 2023, with an unprecedented attack on dozens of military bases and settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths and injuries of hundreds of Israelis.

The Palestinian human rights organizations considered that "the essence of what the proposed legislation aims for is to respond to motives of revenge or retribution, not to deter or prevent future crimes."

They continued that the ongoing discussions about this legislation, whether in the media or in some human rights circles, "give a misleading and deceptive image, as it portrays Israel as a state among those that do not apply the death penalty, and that it had abolished this penalty and is moving towards reinstating it against Palestinian detainees."

They added that Israel "has not actually stopped executing that penalty against Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories for decades."

They clarified that Israel "has practiced and continues to commit thousands of extrajudicial executions against Palestinians through various means, the most prominent of which are: assassinations, sniper operations, shooting at military checkpoints, shooting at participants in peaceful protests in the West Bank, and killing detainees."

The Palestinian organizations noted that the law that applies only to Palestinians "reveals another aspect of the system of racial discrimination in Israel, as it will not include the execution of the death penalty against an Israeli who kills a Palestinian."

The organizations that signed the paper are: Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, Al-Haq Foundation, the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, the Palestinian Authority for Prisoners and Released Prisoners Affairs, the Addameer Foundation for Human Rights, the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights, the Palestinian Prisoners Club, and the Jerusalem Center for Legal Aid and Human Rights.

According to Israeli legislation, any bill must be voted on in three readings in the Knesset before it becomes a valid law.

More than 9,250 Palestinian prisoners are held in Israeli prisons, including children and women, suffering from torture, starvation, and medical neglect, with many of them killed, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.

Israel has intensified its targeting of prisoners since it began, with U.S. support, a campaign of genocide against Palestinian citizens in the Gaza Strip on October 8, 2023.

This genocide stopped with a ceasefire agreement that came into effect on October 10, but Israel violates it daily, resulting in hundreds of deaths and injuries, in addition to preventing the entry of sufficient food and medical supplies.

The genocide has resulted in more than 69,000 Palestinian deaths and over 170,000 injuries, with destruction affecting 90 percent of the civilian infrastructure in the sector.

For decades, Israel has occupied Palestine and lands in Syria and Lebanon, refusing to withdraw from them and to establish an independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on the borders prior to the 1967 war.