Beijing called for Palestinians’ rights to be protected after Israel approved a Bill to allow the execution of Palestinians convicted on terror charges for deadly attacks.
Under the new law, passed by Israel’s parliament on Monday, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank convicted by military courts of carrying out deadly attacks classified as “terrorism” will face the death penalty as a default sentence.
“The legal rights of the Palestinian people should be respected and protected,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said when asked about the Bill at a press briefing on Friday.
“China believes that any law should fulfil legal principles such as equality and justice and should not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, religion or nationality or political views,” Mao added.
A host of countries have criticised the Bill, which was supported by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The United Nations said that applying the new Bill in occupied Palestinian territory would constitute a war crime.
The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkiye and the United Arab Emirates also lambasted the Bill on Thursday.
“This legislation constitutes a dangerous escalation, particularly given its discriminatory application against Palestinian prisoners, and stressed that such measures risk further exacerbating tensions and undermining regional stability,” a joint statement read.
The European Union also criticised the Bill, but the United States has come out in support of “Israel’s sovereign right to determine its own laws”. — AFP
