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3. Israel Maintains High Pressure in West Bank Amid Iran War

As war with Iran and its proxies touches most of the region, Israel maintains pressure in the West Bank as violence mounts, while the Knesset deliberates on the death penalty. 

On Monday, 2 Palestinians in the West Bank were killed by Israeli soldiers in separate incidents, according to AFP.

The Israeli army said that a man armed with a knife ran towards soldiers near the town of Khursa, after which the forces opened fire.

The army also said that it had shot a Palestinian man near Tulkarem after accelerating his car toward soldiers.

Additionally, the death count from settler violence in March has spiked at least 8, according to an ACLED report. The Times of Israel also reported that at least 257 incidents of settler violence in the West Bank have occurred in the first 25 days of the Iran war.

116 Palestinian towns have been targeted in the settler violence incidents, ranging from land seizure and property damage to physical assaults.

Knesset Deliberates on Death Penalty

Israel’s Knesset is deliberating on a bill on Monday that would permit the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of terrorism charges for deadly attacks.

The bill was pioneered by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and his far-right Otzma Yehudit party and would make the death penalty the default punishment in Israeli military court for deadly events considered as acts of terrorism, which may be reduced to life imprisonment under certain circumstances.

According to the draft bill, anyone who causes the death of a person during an attempt to harm an Israeli citizen or resident with intent to destroy the Israeli state would be sentenced to death or life in prison. The method of execution would be by hanging and it would be mandated to occur within 90 days of sentencing, the date of which could be postponed up to 180 days.

Palestinians in the West Bank are tried in Israeli military courts, and this bill would expand the reach of Israeli courts to apply death sentences against convicted Palestinians. The death penalty addendum would also extend to Israeli criminal court, which tries Israelis, including Palestinian citizens of Israel.

The last time that Israel carried out the death penalty was against Nazi German official Adolf Eichmann in 1962 following a highly-watched trial in civilian court.