China called on Friday for Palestinian rights to be protected after Israel approved a bill to allow the execution of Palestinians convicted of 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 must be respected and protected,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said when asked about the bill at a press conference on Friday.
“We also hope that the relevant parties cease actions that escalate tensions and exacerbate the conflict,” she said, without naming Israel.
“China believes that every law should fulfill 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 criticized the bill, which was supported by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The United Nations said on Tuesday that implementing the new bill in the occupied Palestinian territory would constitute a war crime.
The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates also criticized the bill in a joint statement on Thursday.
“This legislation constitutes a dangerous escalation, especially given its discriminatory application to Palestinian prisoners, and stressed that such measures risk further exacerbating tensions and undermining regional stability,” the statement said.
The European Union also criticized the bill, but the United States has come out in support of Israel’s “sovereign right to determine its own laws.”
China still uses the death penalty and does not publish statistics on executions.
Amnesty International and other rights groups believe that thousands of people are executed in the country every year.
