Several Islamic nations, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Indonesia, have condemned Israel’s approval of a death penalty law targeting Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, warning that the move threatens regional stability.
The criticism came in a joint statement issued by the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.
“This legislation constitutes a dangerous escalation, particularly given its discriminatory application against Palestinian prisoners,” the statement read, adding that such measures risk further exacerbating tensions and undermining regional stability.
The law, passed by Israel’s parliament earlier this week, mandates the death penalty for Palestinians convicted by military courts of carrying out deadly attacks classified as acts of terrorism.
Critics argue that the measure creates a dual legal system, as Palestinians in the West Bank are automatically tried in Israeli military courts, while Israeli civilians are tried in civilian courts where sentencing may vary between death and life imprisonment.
The legislation has also drawn criticism from the United Nations and the European Union. However, the United States has expressed support for Israel’s “sovereign right to determine its own laws.”
Many of the countries that signed the statement currently enforce the death penalty within their own jurisdictions, including Saudi Arabia, which carried out hundreds of executions in 2025.
Historically, Israel has used the death penalty sparingly. It was first applied in 1948 shortly after the country’s founding in a case of alleged treason, and later in 1962 in the execution of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and violence in the region has escalated significantly since the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, which triggered the ongoing conflict in Gaza.