ICSPR Condemns Field Executions in Gaza and Calls for the Protection of the Rule of Law and Civil Peace, and for Addressing the Political and Security Vacuum Through a Transitional Justice Approach

Date: 14 October 2025

Press Release

ICSPR Condemns Field Executions in Gaza and Calls for the Protection of the Rule of Law and Civil Peace, and for Addressing the Political and Security Vacuum Through a Transitional Justice Approach

The International Commission to Support Palestinians’ Rights (ICSPR) expresses its strong condemnation and deep concern over the field executions that occurred during the past three days in the Gaza Strip, some of which were carried out publicly in front of civilians — in blatant violation of the most basic human rights, principles of justice, and the rule of law. These acts constitute extrajudicial killings that cannot be justified under any pretext.

According to circulating videos and field testimonies, masked gunmen opened fire on several handcuffed citizens in Khan Yunis and Deir al-Balah. The most serious of these incidents occurred on the evening of 13 October 2025, when eight blindfolded and handcuffed individuals were executed in a public square in front of a civilian crowd, following armed clashes between a group of gunmen and a local family south of Gaza City. This crime follows a series of similar incidents involving raids, arrests, and assaults carried out outside the framework of the law, signaling a dangerous deterioration in the security situation and posing a direct threat to civil peace.

ICSPR affirms that protecting the right to life, ensuring fair trial guarantees, and upholding the rule of law are both legal and moral obligations upon the authorities responsible for law enforcement. The Commission categorically rejects all manifestations of chaos, mob justice (“street justice”), or any attempts to take the law into one’s own hands, as well as political, family, or factional score-settling outside legal and judicial frameworks. Such acts represent a double crime — against society and against the rule of law — and open the door to widespread lawlessness and internal fighting that serve only the interests of the Israeli occupation.

ICSPR also strongly condemns the crimes and violations committed by armed and criminal groups operating outside the law — regardless of their titles or pretexts — especially in light of indications that some of these groups are involved in acts supported by Israeli occupation agencies aimed at spreading chaos, looting aid, promoting crime, and targeting civilians and members of the resistance. The Commission stresses the need to confront these groups and hold them accountable within the framework of the law and to bring them to justice to ensure deterrence, protect public order, and safeguard civil peace.

ICSPR affirms that the only entities legally authorized to carry out arrests, investigations, detentions, and executions of judgments are the Public Prosecution and the Palestinian judiciary. Accordingly, the Commission calls for the following:

1. Immediate action by the Public Prosecution and relevant authorities to open an independent, serious, and transparent investigation into these incidents, hold accountable all those found involved or complicit, and publicly announce the results to enhance transparency and prevent impunity.

2. Addressing the political and security vacuum in the Gaza Strip urgently through a comprehensive national approach based on the establishment of a National Committee for Justice and Support composed of independent national figures, to initiate justice processes and address crimes and violations committed during the genocide, grounded in the principles of transitional justice.

3. Ensuring that members of the security services strictly adhere to the law, the rules governing the use of force and firearms, and lawful conduct; activating the community policing approach to strengthen constructive cooperation between police forces, civil society, local leaders, and clans to contain conflicts, uphold the rule of law and social fabric, and prevent and combat crimes while restoring the authority and dignity of the law.

4. Rebuilding the justice and security system in Gaza requires a national vision that begins with empowering the judiciary, unifying legal and security references, and ensuring civil oversight of law enforcement agencies — thereby reinforcing the rule of law, accountability, and respect for the dignity of the Palestinian people.

5. Calling on all national and Islamic forces, civil society organizations, and community leaders and clans to urgently unite to protect civil peace and reject chaos and field executions, stressing that maintaining civil peace and the rule of law today constitutes the foundation for recovery and the protection of the Palestinian national project.