Israel has begun constructing an execution facility designed to hang Palestinian prisoners convicted under a controversial new death penalty law, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced this week. The complex, located in a newly built death-row wing at a prison in central Israel, includes an execution chamber and viewing booths where victims’ families can witness the hangings, a practice Ben-Gvir described as customary in many countries.
The facility will operate under the Death Penalty for Terrorists Law, which the Knesset passed in March. Championed by Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party, the legislation mandates capital punishment for those convicted of deadly terrorist attacks aimed at “ending Israel’s existence.” Critics argue the provision effectively exempts Jewish Israelis, making the law applicable almost exclusively to Palestinians. The law requires executions to be carried out within 90 days of sentencing and allows no right of appeal.
Ben-Gvir, a far-right politician known for inflammatory rhetoric toward Palestinians, presented the partially constructed site in a video released on Tuesday. “We are making history. Terrorists deserve only one thing – death by hanging,” he said, framing the project as the fulfillment of campaign promises. The minister has previously faced sanctions from multiple countries for inciting violence against Palestinians and has publicly denied the existence of a Palestinian people.
The law has drawn sharp condemnation from human rights organizations and legal experts, both inside Israel and internationally. United Nations human rights experts have warned that hanging violates the absolute prohibition on torture. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called the legislation “deeply discriminatory” and an egregious violation of international law. Israeli rights group B’Tselem argued the public nature of the executions contributes to the dehumanization of Palestinians. Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel – and several lawmakers have petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the law as unconstitutional.
Historically, Israel has reserved capital punishment for exceptional cases, such as treason and Nazi-era war crimes. Only two people have been executed since the state’s founding: an Israeli army officer in 1948 and Holocaust architect Adolf Eichmann in 1962. No Palestinian prisoner has yet been sentenced to death under the new statute.
Israel currently holds approximately 9,400 Palestinian prisoners, including nearly 100 women and more than 370 minors, according to figures cited by the Palestinian Prisoner Society. Rights groups have documented widespread mistreatment in detention, alleging abuse, torture, starvation, denial of medical care, and sexual violence. Israel is also reportedly withholding the bodies of more than 100 Palestinians who died in custody.
The development comes amid a sharp escalation in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. The Israeli military continues near-daily raids and arrests, while settler violence and home demolitions targeting relatives of alleged attackers persist. Last week, the UN warned that the humanitarian and security situation in the region had reached a critical breaking point. Legal challenges to the execution law are expected to proceed as the facility nears completion.
