The Complete Hell-ification of Israeli Prisons for Palestinians

On March 30th, scenes inside the Israeli Knesset were celebratory. Lawmakers embraced, applauded, and raised their voices in praise of what they describe as a “Victory.”

The occasion was the advancement of a law that would allow the execution of Palestinian prisoners.

For many Palestinians, however, this moment did not come as a surprise. It felt like the continuation of a painful reality already unfolding inside Israeli prisons – where dozens of detainees have died since October 2023 under conditions described by the PPC as neglect, abuse, and deprivation.

In recent months, Israeli officials, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have openly called for harsher measures against Palestinian prisoners – speaking publicly and proudly about turning prisons into “hell” and tightening restrictions on their basic rights.

The Devil Lies in The Details

The new law, which was put forward by the Jewish Power party led by far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and members of the governing coalition, was approved by a majority of 62 members, 48 opposed, and 1 abstained. The law introduces the death penalty for Palestinians accused of carrying out attacks defined as “Terrorism.”

It allows for execution by hanging within 90 days, without requiring unanimous judicial approval and with no possibility of appeal or pardon – making the sentence final and irreversible.

The law is also designed to operate within the military legal system in the occupied West Bank, reinforcing an already separate legal framework applied to Palestinians.

Its implications extend beyond punishment. By removing the authority of military commanders to suspend or alter sentences, it effectively closes the door on prisoner exchange – a mechanism that has historically played a central role in negotiations and sustained fragile diplomatic efforts.

The law restricts access to legal counsel and family visits, limits external oversight, and grants legal protection to those involved in carrying out these executions. 

Not New, Formalized!

Since October 2023, human rights organizations report that 89 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody, under conditions describes as medical neglect, abuse, torture, and severe deprivation. These accounts are echoed in testimonies from released detainees, who describe a system marked by violence and isolation.

A report titled “Welcome to Hell” documented patterns of mistreatment, including beatings, deliberate starvation, physical and mental torture, and inhumane detention conditions. Israeli officials themselves have spoken openly about imposing harsher measures. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has repeatedly referred to turning prisons into “hell” as a form of deterrence.

One former detainee, recently released, describes the experience as relentless. “They beat us daily,” he said. “With boots, batons, whatever they had. We were allowed 2 minutes to shower, with cold water and no soap.” Adding: “Skin diseases spread everywhere. During one of the beatings, the prisoner next to me lost his hearing.”

At the same time, access to the outside world has been restricted. International bodies such as the International Committee of the Red Cross have faced total cuts in facilitating any family contact or providing legal aid, leaving many prisoners completely cut off – sometimes unaware of the deaths within their own families. 

In this context, the law appears less as a new departure than as a legal extension of existing practices – transforming a system already marked by deprivation into one where death itself becomes codified. 

While the law is being debated, Palestinian families are left with its consequences. “We couldn’t sleep at night,” Tasnim, whose brother is in Israeli detention, told Rolling Stone MENA. “My mother has already lost two of her children – she cannot bear losing a third.”

She paused before adding, “I keep thinking about how it would happen – how he would be alone, how we wouldn’t even see him again, even if they execute him.”

Depending on a Rational Occupier?

One of the most common responses to the law has been the belief that Israel’s legal system will ultimately restrain it – whether through judicial reviews, religious precedent, or concern over international consequences.

But this confidence rests on an assumption that the system functions as a check on power, rather than as part of it.

In practice, Israeli law already operates within two distinct frameworks: a civil system for Israelis, and a military one for the Palestinians in the occupied territories. Looking at this structure, the same act can be done but with fundamentally different legal consequences, depending on who commits it. 

Acts of resistance carried out by Palestinians are routinely identified as “terrorism”, while attacks by settlers, even when there are Palestinians killed in it, are rarely treated in the same legal definition.

Prior to the advancement of this law, the Israeli Shin-Bet announced tightening the criteria for classifying Jewish settler attacks as “Terrorism.”

This asymmetry is not incidental; it reflects a system that is designed less for accountability than for managing impunity. A broader legal order that differentiates between populations and racially discriminates. 

Appeals to international law, or to the expectation that reputational cost will impose limits, have similarly proven unreliable. In recent years, legal challenges, diplomatic pressure, and the international rulings have not prevented the expansion of policies widely criticized as violations of international law.

So, the issue now is not the possibility of this law passing or falling, but that it is clearly emerging from a system that has repeatedly produced, adapted and legitimized such thoughts and tendencies into laws, rather than preventing them. 

Kicking Political Resolution When It’s Down

This law doesn’t stand alone; it emerges at a moment when Palestinians across the occupied territories are already living through intensified violence – from raids and shootings in the West bank, to what the UN and other watchdog organizations labeled as genocide in Gaza.

Its timing is not incidental also, as global attention is shifting more towards the regional conflict, measures like this move forward with limited scrutiny.

But for Palestinians, the distinction between what is legal and what is already happening has become increasingly blurred, as more lives are taken every day. Whether through detention, armed attacks, or bombardment, the outcome is often the same, a life cut short, and a system that continues without interruption.