News- Middle East: Palestinian resistance movements Hamas and Islamic Jihad have strongly condemned Israel’s draft law allowing the execution of Palestinian prisoners, urging the United Nations to take immediate action to block the controversial legislation.

On Monday, the so-called “National Security” Committee of the Israeli Knesset (parliament) approved a bill that would allow the execution of Palestinian prisoners, paving the way for its referral to the Knesset General Assembly for discussion and voting in the upcoming legislative session.

Hamas said the move reflects “the ugly, fascist face” of the Israeli regime, and “constitutes a grave violation of international law, international humanitarian law, and the Third Geneva Convention.”

The resistance movement urged the United Nations, the international community, and relevant humanitarian and human rights organizations to “take urgent action to stop this brutal crime.”

It also demanded “the formation of international committees to enter the detention centers, examine the conditions of Palestinian prisoners, and expose the atrocities committed there.”

Hamas also called for pushing for the immediate release of Palestinian detainees, amid horrific reports of violations committed against them.

The Islamic Jihad resistance movement echoed Hamas’ statement, saying the bill “represents a new violation of all international charters and humanitarian norms, and its approval constitutes a war crime within the framework of the genocide that the [Israeli] occupation continues to wage against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank."

The group warned that the law means thousands of Palestinian prisoners would be subjected to “mass execution.”

The movement vowed to “spare no effort” in confronting the enemy’s aggressive policies against the prisoners and the entire Palestinian people.

The controversial bill, submitted by far-right minister Itamar Ben Gvir's Jewish Power party, could have its first reading in the parliament as soon as Wednesday.

It stipulates that judges will be able to impose a death penalty on Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis on "nationalistic grounds." It would not apply to an Israeli killing a Palestinian under similar circumstances.

The bill, first pushed by far-right Israeli parties before Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, has resurfaced in recent months with renewed backing.

Addressing the Knesset’s committee earlier in the day, Israel’s coordinator for the captives and the missing, Gal Hirsch, said that he held a discussion with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before the debate, and both agreed on introducing the new law.

Hirsch previously opposed the bill over fears that it would hinder the release of Israeli captives held in Gaza. But now that all living captives have returned under a US-brokered ceasefire agreement, his opposition has become “redundant”, Israeli media said.

Source: Press TV