Eight Muslim-majority countries "strongly condemned" Israel's move to pass a law making death by hanging a default sentence for Palestinian terrorists convicted in military courts, a joint statement released by Pakistan said on Thursday.
Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, in the statement, also emphasized the "urgent need to refrain from measures" that risk further inflaming tensions on the ground.
The countries' ministers warned the law is a "dangerous escalation," citing its "discriminatory application against Palestinian prisoners."
The Knesset passed the Death Penalty for Terrorists Law on Monday evening, with 62 lawmakers voting in favor while 48 voted against, and one abstained.
Who will be executed under Ben-Gvir's bill?
The bill, which was sponsored by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit Party, would, according to its proponents, act as a deterrent against terror and serve a measure of justice for victims of terrorism.
Ben-Gvir has pushed for the legislation since the start of his tenure as national security minister, repeatedly stating that its passage was a condition of Otzma Yehudit’s coalition agreement with Netanyahu.
The updated outline of the bill proposes that executions for terrorists would be carried out by hanging, implemented by the Israel Prison Service.
The bill stipulates that a terrorist who intentionally kills a person as part of an act of terrorism will be sentenced to death.
From the outset, Ben-Gvir wanted an automatic death penalty for terrorism convictions, and that was the outline passed in the first reading. The revised version stipulates that a judge would decide between capital punishment and life in prison.
Terrorists from the West Bank, however, would still get the automatic death penalty, barring specific appeals.