The Israeli Parliament has approved a law that allows the deportation of relatives of “terrorists” for a period of between seven and 20 years, if it is proven that they knew of the attacker’s plans and did nothing to stop him, or showed their support and encouraged violent acts. The new law will apply to Arabs with Israeli citizenship, who make up about 20% of Israel’s population, and to Palestinians.
According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, The law was approved on Wednesday with 61 votes in favor and 41 against, and establishes that the Israeli Ministry of the Interior can deport the relatives of an attacker to the Gaza Strip or to another place “determined by the circumstances.” Haaretz highlights that the new rule has been processed by fast track and the Israeli Attorney General’s Office has not issued a legal opinion on the matter.
A legal expert from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Oded Feller, has said that the law is “populist nonsense,” in statements reported by the AP news agency. Feller has noted that it is unlikely that the law will be applied, because “there is no legal way by which the Ministry of the Interior can send an Israeli citizen to another country or to Gaza.” The association does not plan to take the law to court until it is tried to be applied, but Feller has been convinced that any court would reject it.
In addition, last night the Knesset approved a temporary provision that will allow the country’s courts to sentence minors from the age of 12 to prison if they are found guilty of murder for “terrorist” reasons. According to the rule, minors between 12 and 14 years old may be sentenced to prison and locked up in a center until they turn 14, at which point Israeli law allows them to be transferred to prison.
Israel may expel relatives of Palestinians for 20 years
Haaretz details that the law can be applied to the immediate family members of the attackers: fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, and spouses. In the case of Israeli citizens, the deportation period would be between seven and 15 years; while for those who do not have Israeli citizenship, the period increases to between ten and 20 years.
It is unclear whether the law will also apply to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli authorities have for years taken punitive measures against the families of attackers, expelling them from their homes and demolishing homes, as well as subjecting them to more surveillance than to any other Palestinian.
Minors between 12 and 14 years old may go to prison for five years
The new rule is a temporary provision that will be in effect for five years, but may be renewed for periods of two years after its expiration. A similar rule was already in force between 2016 and 2020, but was not renewed. In Israel, criminal responsibility begins at the age of 12, but until now prison sentences could only be applied from the age of 14.
The provision was presented, among others, by parliamentarians from the ultranationalist Jewish Power party, led by the current Minister of National Security, the anti-Arab settler Itamar Ben Gvir.
The Islamist group Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, has condemned the measure in a statement in which it accuses the Israeli authorities of punishing minors for their “resistance and rejection of the occupation” and questions that it violates international treaties on the rights of children.
Hamas, which killed more than thirty minors in its attacks on October 7, 2023 against Israel, recalls that Israeli forces have killed more than 17,000 children during their offensive against Gaza, and calls on the international community to “face to this fascist law.”
Since its return to activity after the summer recess at the end of October, the Israeli Parliament has approved a series of controversial measures, such as the ban on Israel of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), the deportation of relatives of “terrorists” to Gaza or the dismissal of teachers for expressing support for the Palestinian armed struggle.
In Israel, the term “terrorist” is used interchangeably to refer to attacks against civilians or attacks against Israeli soldiers committed by Palestinian armed groups, both in Israeli territory and in the occupied West Bank or Gaza.
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