Palestinian shops and public institutions across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem closed Wednesday as protests erupted against a new Israeli law imposing the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks.
New Israeli Law Sparks Protests
Hundreds of people marched in Ramallah, chanting slogans condemning the law and calling for international intervention. Demonstrators in Nablus carried signs warning that time was running out to prevent the law’s implementation, with one sign depicting a prisoner with a noose.
Most shops in Hebron, Ramallah, and Nablus were closed at midday, according to reports from the AFP news agency. Israeli soldiers reportedly forced Palestinian shop owners in the town of Anata, northeast of Jerusalem, to reopen their businesses.
The protests were prompted by a law passed late Monday by the Israeli parliament, or Knesset. The law establishes the death penalty as a default sentence for Palestinians in the West Bank convicted by military courts of carrying out attacks classified as “terrorism.”
Because Palestinians in the territory are automatically tried in Israeli military courts, the measure effectively creates a separate and harsher legal track. In Israeli civilian courts, the law allows for either death or life imprisonment for those convicted of killing with intent to harm the state.
Critics argue the distinction underscores a system of unequal justice, even though the law does not provide for retroactive application.
Palestinians shared images on social media of tires being burned in protest at the Qalandia checkpoint, a busy entry point into Israel via Jerusalem. Eyewitnesses reported Israeli soldiers fired rubber-coated bullets, stun grenades, and tear gas at protesters, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, with no injuries reported.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has condemned the law, stating that its application to residents of the occupied Palestinian territory would constitute a war crime.
More than 9,500 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons, including 350 children and 73 women. Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups report that detainees face torture, starvation, and medical neglect, leading to numerous deaths.
“There isn’t a single person standing here who doesn’t have a brother, a husband, a son, or even a neighbour in prison. There is no Palestinian family without a prisoner,” said Riman, a 53-year-old psychologist from Ramallah, to AFP.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and violence in the region has increased since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023, which has resulted in over 72,000 deaths.
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