Knesset approves measure that has been criticised by European nations and rights groups
Israel’s parliament has passed a law imposing the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of fatal attacks, a measure sharply criticised as discriminatory by European nations and rights groups.
The legislation makes the death penalty the default punishment for Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank found guilty of intentionally carrying out deadly attacks deemed acts of terrorism by a military court.
According to the bill, those sentenced to death will be held in a separate facility with no visits except for from authorised personnel, with legal consultations conducted only by video link. Executions will be carried out within 90 days of sentencing.
Israel has rarely used the death penalty, applying it only in exceptional cases, with the Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann the last person to be executed, in 1962.
