THE UNITED NATIONS has harshly criticised the Israeli parliament’s approval of a “cruel and discriminatory” new death penalty bill, warning that applying it in occupied Palestinian territory “would constitute a war crime”.

Under the new law, passed in parliament late yesterday, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank convicted by military courts of carrying out deadly attacks classified as “terrorism” will face the death penalty as a default sentence.

UN rights chief Volker Turk called for the bill to be “promptly repealed”, warning that it was “patently inconsistent with Israel’s international law obligations”.

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.

Israel has only applied the death penalty twice: in 1948, shortly after the state’s founding, against a military captain accused of high treason, and then in 1962, when the Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was hanged.

Turk stressed that the application of the death penalty in a “discriminatory manner would constitute an additional, particularly egregious violation of international law”.

“Its application to residents of the occupied Palestinian territory would constitute a war crime,” he added.

‘Callous, racist and inhumane’

Here at home, Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Defence, Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire, said that the new law “greenlights the death penalty for Palestinians”.

He described the legislation as “callous, racist and inhumane”.

“The grim reality here is that, given the difficulties Palestinians face in ever getting a fair trial, this law, if not stopped, will lead to Palestinians being executed en masse,” said Ó Laoghaire.

“This is a racially motivated piece of legislation – it does not apply to the entire population of the area under Israeli control, but specifically to Palestinians.”

He also criticised far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who championed the bill, for celebrating with bottles of champagne.

VIDEO | Israeli National Security Minister Ben Gvir, outside the Knesset chamber, celebrates the passing of the death penalty law for Palestinian detainees, describing it as historic and saying, “Soon we will count them one by one.” pic.twitter.com/yc4Aan0dLf

— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) March 30, 2026

Ó Laoghaire said the Irish Government must “actively push for it to be repealed” and added that it is “further evidence the EU-Israel Trade Agreement must be suspended.

He also called for the Government to “stop dragging its feet and enact the Occupied Territories Bill”.

Meanwhile, Social Democrats foreign affairs spokesperson Patricia Stephenson described the bill as “barbaric”.

“The Knesset’s bill only applies to Palestinians who have killed Israelis in what is deemed an ‘act of terror’, and not to Israelis who kill Palestinians in any scenario,” said Stephenson.

“This is another tool for the Israeli apartheid state to subjugate the Palestinian people, who already do not receive a fair trial in Israeli courts – this law, in addition to its inherent brutality, is ripe for exploitation and corruption.”

She too condemned the celebrations last night and added: “It is now apparent that the bloodlust of the Israeli terror state is limitless.”

Stephenson also called for the Occupied Territories Bill to be “introduced immediately” and for the Government to push for the suspension of the EU-Israel trade agreement.

She also called for Israel’s observer status at the Council of Europe to be revoked, and for Israel to be blocked by UEFA and other international bodies.

The EU meanwhile said the bill is a “clear step backwards” and “discriminatory”, while Germany said it would not endorse the new law.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez described the bill “a step closer to apartheid”.

“It is an asymmetric measure that would not apply to Israelis who committed the same crimes. Same crime, different punishment. That is not justice. It is a step closer to apartheid,” Sanchez wrote on social media.

‘Horrifying act of violence’

Elsewhere, Christian Aid warned that the new legislation is “another example of the systematic discrimination meted out to Palestinians by the Israeli state.”

Oxfam meanwhile described the bill as “another horrifying act of violence which proves the system of institutionalised discrimination and systematic oppression of the Palestinian people”.

“The Israeli government has granted itself another means to dehumanise, suppress, and kill Palestinians. Israel is violating international law,” said Oxfam.

Oxfam called on Governments to use “all political and economic tools at their disposal to pressure the Israeli government to immediately row back on the decision”.

“All red lines have been crossed, including fast-tracked annexation and mass forced displacement, entrenching a one-state reality of an illegal prolonged occupation.”

-With additional reporting from - © AFP 2026