The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) condemns in the strongest possible terms the Israeli parliament’s passage of a law expanding the use of the death penalty against Palestinians. This move formalises state killing within a system already defined by occupation, apartheid, and genocide. It is a further manifestation of Israel’s impunity and its ongoing and blatant violations of international law, embedded in a system designed to target Palestinians and Palestinians alone.
This is not justice, this is a system built on eliminating Palestinians with full government support.
The legislation enables Israel’s military courts to impose death sentences on Palestinians, with executions by hanging to be carried out within 90 days and no meaningful right to appeal or pardon. It embeds the death penalty into an apartheid-style judicial system where Palestinians are subjected to military courts, arbitrary detention, torture, and near-total conviction rates, with no safeguards.
At a time when global consensus is moving toward the abolition of the death penalty, Israel has chosen to, not only maintain a system of oppression but extend it to include state-sanctioned execution. This law does not exist in isolation.
Last week, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese found that Israel’s use of torture against Palestinians is systematic, including beatings, sexual violence, starvation, and psychological terror, and forms part of what she identified as a genocidal project.
A system of organised cruelty, and built on torture, starvation and collective punishment, is now being armed with the power to execute.
On the very day Israel moves to expand the execution of Palestinians, the National Press Club has chosen to platform the Israeli Ambassador, offering a national stage to a representative of a government now formalising state killing.
At a moment that demands accountability, Australia is providing amplification.
APAN Executive Officer Katie Shammas said:
“This law is a grotesque escalation of Israel’s violence against Palestinians. It takes a system built on torture, starvation, sexual violence and indefinite detention, and adds execution. It is a clear violation of international law, is inherently discriminatory and is designed to target Palestinians. This law comes after soldiers accused of raping a Palestinian detainee walked free, and as evidence mounts that torture is being used systematically against Palestinians.
And on the very same day, here in Australia, the National Press Club is giving a platform to the representatives of that system by hosting the Israeli Ambassador.
Let’s be clear – this is not justice, it is a system of organised cruelty formalised into law.
Israel is normalising the execution of Palestinians through courts that deny even the most basic rights, where evidence is extracted under torture and conviction is almost guaranteed.
This is not the rule of law. This is state killing, dressed up as legality. And the silence, and worse, the platforming of those responsible, makes Australia part of the problem.”
The law creates two parallel legal systems, one for Israelis and one for Palestinians, further entrenching apartheid. Israeli authorities will apply inherently racist policies where Palestinians are tried under military courts and denied access to civilian court proceedings, with outcomes shaped by a system designed to convict and punish. This is a system of deliberate cruelty and inhumanity, a core part of Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians.
It also removes the possibility of pardon, making it one of the most extreme death penalty regimes globally.
APAN calls on the Australian Government to:
- Publicly condemn Israel’s death penalty law
- Immediately call in the Israeli Ambassador
- Impose targeted sanctions on Israeli officials and entities responsible
- Support International Criminal Court investigations
- Urgently investigate Australians serving in the Israeli military
Australia claims to support human rights while turning a blind eye to a system of violence that has expanded to include execution. Israel is already carrying out genocide, forced displacement and the destruction of Palestinian life. This law formalises that violence into execution without clemency, and is an open, government-approved declaration that Palestinian lives are disposable.
We refuse to accept it.
ENDS