RAMALLAH, (PIC)
The anniversary of Palestinian Prisoner’s Day this year does not pass like other years, but arrives weighted with shocking facts and dangerous shifts that affect the core of the prisoners’ cause.
At a time when violations are escalating inside prisons, a new reality imposes itself, whose most prominent headline is: the transition from practices of repression to their codification, leading to legislation that opens the door to the execution of prisoners. Between increasing figures and rising human rights warnings, thousands of prisoners stand before a stage described as the most dangerous in decades, where danger is no longer confined to prison, but to the possibilities of death that have begun to loom as a legal option.
From violation to legislation
Over many years, policies of torture, medical negligence, and starvation have formed permanent features in the reality of Palestinian prisoners inside prisons.
However, the current stage indicates a qualitative and dangerous shift, represented by moving these policies from the sphere of practice to the sphere of legislation.
The Knesset’s approval of what is known as the “Prisoner Execution Law” does not seem like just a passing legal step, but reflects a political trend toward legalizing killing, and giving the judicial institution cover to implement it.
Thus, violations are no longer just acts committed in the shadows, but have begun to find their way into legal texts, in a scene that portends an unprecedented stage of escalation inside prisons.
Worsening reality in figures
Data issued by specialized institutions reflect a grim picture of the reality of Palestinian prisoners, as their number exceeded 9,600 prisoners by the beginning of April 2026, in a sharp increase compared to the period preceding the war. This increase does not only express the expansion of arrest campaigns, but reveals a systematic policy affecting various groups, including women and children.
Under this reality, the crisis of administrative detention deepens, as a large number of prisoners languish without charges or trials, which turns prisons into an open space for arbitrary detention, and makes justice an absent concept in the lives of thousands of Palestinian families.
Voices from the heart of the scene
In a reading of this shift, the director of the Palestine Center for Prisoner’ Studies, researcher Riyadh al-Ashqar, says that the Knesset’s approval of the prisoner execution law represents a “pivotal turning point that portends a bloodier stage inside prisons.”
Al-Ashqar confirms in a press statement that what is happening “cannot be considered an isolated legal measure, but comes in the context of the escalation of the policy of collective punishment,” adding that the law “grants official cover for the killing of prisoners, and establishes a new reality after which things will not be as they were before.” He also warns of the possibility of expanding the scope of applying this law to include broader groups, and perhaps retroactively, which threatens the lives of a large number of prisoners, especially those with high sentences.
The law as a tool of collective punishment
The danger of this legislation does not lie in its texts alone, but in the philosophy on which it is based, as it reflects a trend toward using the law as a tool for collective punishment based on identity. Instead of the judiciary constituting a refuge for achieving justice, it becomes part of a system that subjects basic rights to political and security calculations, which raises serious questions about its independence and role.
This shift redefines the relationship between law and justice, and poses a deep problem regarding the possibility of using legal texts as a means to justify grave violations.
Crime with legislative cover
For his part, international law expert Dr. Salah Abdel Ati confirms that the so-called “Prisoner Execution Law” represents a “dangerous shift in the use of the law as a tool of collective punishment based on identity,” emphasizing that it lacks any international legal legitimacy.
He explains in a comment that this law contradicts the rules of international law, especially those that guarantee the protection of prisoners and their right to life and a fair trial, considering that its application under these conditions makes it an arbitrary measure.
He also points out that this legislation can be classified as a war crime, and may even rise to a crime against humanity, given its systematic nature and the discrimination on which it is based.
He adds that responsibility does not stop at those who implement these policies, but extends to include everyone who contributed to enacting this law or supported it, within the framework of the principle of individual criminal responsibility recognized internationally.
Stage open to danger
Concerns do not stop at the limits of passing the law, but extend to the future repercussions that may result from it, in light of indicators of the possibility of expanding the scope of its application, especially against new detainees or within broad classifications.
Concerns are also increasing regarding the fate of Gaza detainees after October 2023, in light of talk about trends for parallel legislation that may target them directly.
This reality opens the door to a new stage inside prisons, characterized by more cruelty and ambiguity, where the fate of prisoners becomes more fragile than ever before.
International silence exacerbates the crisis
In contrast to this escalation, the absence of decisive international reactions emerges, raising questions about the seriousness of the international community in dealing with these developments.
Silence, in such cases, does not seem neutral, but contributes to establishing a reality that allows for the continuation of violations without accountability.
Human rights activists believe that the absence of effective international pressure encourages moving forward with these policies, and gives them room to transform from exceptional measures into a permanent reality.
