Under this law, military courts may try civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and impose the death penalty with only narrowly framed judicial discretion. The procedural rights of the sentenced person would be severely curtailed including their access to legal representation. Execution by hanging could take place within 90 days of a final ruling, without necessary safeguards in place including external oversight, and with the possibility of commutation significantly curtailed.

Military courts have exclusive jurisdiction over Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, while Israeli citizens and residents are explicitly excluded from its application and are tried in civilian courts, where the death penalty is not an option.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has publicly stated that the law is patently inconsistent with Israel’s international law obligations, including the right to life and that it raises serious concerns about due process violations, is deeply discriminatory, and must be promptly repealed.

The United Nations through the special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Morris Tidball-Binz, described the situation created by the death penalty being introduced as follows: “By reintroducing capital punishment in a system that targets solely Palestinians, despite Israel’s prior abolition of the death penalty for murder and its long-standing de facto moratorium on executions, this law institutionalises arbitrary and discriminatory deprivation of life.”

The Bar of Ireland noted the wider legal and institutional context after the International Court of Justice concluded in July 2024 that the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory violate the prohibition of racial segregation and apartheid in Article 3 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).

It also noted the submissions made in February 2024 on behalf of Ireland before the International Court of Justice in relation to “Israeli Practices and Policies in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” including that the attacks being perpetrated against Palestine by Israel were disproportionate and a violation of international law while also condemning unequivocally the attacks launched by Hamas against Israel on 7th October 2023 and the human rights violations committed by Hamas.

The submissions made on behalf of Ireland also referred to the “spiralling death toll, the extensive destruction of property, including homes, throughout Gaza, the displacement of two million people and the ensuing, humanitarian catastrophe”.

The Bar of Ireland said it is strongly opposed to the death penalty as a violation of the right to life and a form of inhuman and degrading punishment in all circumstances. It is the stated policy of the Irish government to seek the universal abolition of the death penalty, in all cases and under all circumstances. As set out by Ireland’s submissions to the Human Rights Council in February of 2026: “The death penalty constitutes cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and is contrary to the right to life, while also negatively impacting a range of other fundamental human rights. Accordingly, Ireland continues to seek its universal abolition.”