Gaza Herald _The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) has called for urgent international action after reports that Israel has begun preparing a dedicated wing for Palestinian prisoners sentenced to death, including a facility intended for carrying out executions.
PPS chairman Abdullah al-Zaghari said the move represents a dangerous shift from political rhetoric and legislation toward the practical implementation of executions against Palestinian prisoners. He urged the international community to intervene before the measures are put into effect.
The Israeli Knesset approved legislation in March that allows the death penalty to be imposed on Palestinian prisoners convicted of killing Israelis before military courts. Under the law, a death sentence would generally be mandatory unless the court determines that exceptional circumstances justify reducing it to life imprisonment.
On Tuesday, Israel 24 reported, citing the office of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, that authorities were working to establish the first wing for Palestinian prisoners sentenced to death. The facility is expected to include a designated execution room.
Ben-Gvir appeared in footage from the construction site and said the government had fulfilled its promise to advance the death penalty law and was now moving ahead with preparations for the death-row wing and execution facility.
Al-Zaghari described the preparations as a serious human rights violation and said they reflect what he called Israel’s broader use of Palestinian prisoners as a political tool. He also warned that prisoners have faced killings, abuse and degrading treatment inside Israeli prisons.
According to Palestinian and Israeli rights organizations, more than 9,400 Palestinian prisoners are currently held in Israeli prisons, including 92 women and more than 370 children. Rights groups have reported conditions involving alleged torture, starvation, medical neglect and other forms of mistreatment.
Al-Zaghari said the international community bears responsibility for what he described as the continued deterioration of conditions inside Israeli prisons, arguing that international inaction has allowed further punitive measures to proceed.
He said more than 100 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody, attributing the deaths to torture, assaults, sexual violence, malnutrition and disease.
The PPS chairman also accused Ben-Gvir of pursuing punitive measures against Palestinian prisoners, pointing to his repeated visits to prison cells and detention facilities. Al-Zaghari said the measures being introduced seek to strip Palestinian prisoners of protections and rights guaranteed under international law.
He called on governments, international institutions and human rights organizations to take immediate steps to prevent the execution measures from being implemented and to ensure that Palestinian prisoners receive the protections required under international law.
