{"id":30964,"date":"2026-04-03T12:40:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T12:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=30964"},"modified":"2026-04-03T12:40:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T12:40:21","slug":"palestinians-in-the-west-bank-protest-and-strike-against-the-israeli-death-penalty-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=30964","title":{"rendered":"Palestinians in the West Bank protest and strike against the Israeli death penalty law"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas\u2019s Fatah party had called for the strike, with Palestinian shops and public institutions closing their doors to protest the law<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Palestinian
Palestinian demonstrators shout slogans as they march in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, during a protest against the Israeli parliament’s approval of a new death penalty bill for Palestinians convicted of fatal attacks on April 1, 2026 [Zain Jaafar\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Palestinian shops and public institutions, including universities, across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem were closed as people took to the streets to protest against\u00a0a new Israeli law<\/a>\u00a0that imposes the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hundreds of people gathered on Wednesday to march in Ramallah against the law backed by Israel\u2019s far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, chanting slogans condemning the law and calling on the international community to reverse the law\u2019s passage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a protest in the city of Nablus, in the northern West Bank, demonstrators carried signs warning that time was running out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStop the law to execute prisoners, before it\u2019s too late,\u201d one sign read, showing an animation of a prisoner wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh scarf next to a noose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most shops in the cities of Hebron, Ramallah, and Nablus were closed with their shutters down at midday, journalists with the AFP news agency reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israeli soldiers forced Palestinian shop owners taking part in the strike in the town of Anata, northeast of Jerusalem\u2019s Old City, to open their businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas\u2019s Fatah party had called for a general strike the previous day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has condemned the law, saying \u201cits applications to residents of the occupied Palestinian territory would constitute a war crime\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the Ramallah protest, Riman, a 53-year-old psychologist from Ramallah, told AFP that \u201cthere isn\u2019t a single person standing here who doesn\u2019t have a brother, a husband, a son, or even a neighbour in prison. There is no Palestinian family without a prisoner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 9,500 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons, including 350 children and 73 women. Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups say detainees face torture, starvation and medical neglect, leading to dozens of deaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut honestly, today we feel a lot of anger, because there is also a real weakness in solidarity with them. The occupation [Israel] is betting on the weakness of the street,\u201d said Riman, declining to share her last name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n