GAZA CITY — Inaam al-Dahdouh, a 62-year-old mother whose three sons have been held in Israeli prisons for more than two years, called on the world to reject a new Israeli death penalty law as Palestinians marked Palestinian Prisoners' Day on April 17, 2026. Speaking from a makeshift canvas tent in Gaza City where she lives with her six grandchildren, she described her sons' detention and her fears for their lives.

The Israeli parliament passed a law on March 30, 2026 allowing the death penalty to be implemented against those convicted in a military court of killing Israelis. "The whole world should reject this," al-Dahdouh said. "A prisoner has the right to live, the right to dignity … what is happening to prisoners is something insane … something the human mind cannot comprehend."

Her sons Mahmoud, 30, Alaa, 27, and Diaa, 24, were detained on December 15, 2023 after a days-long Israeli attack on al-Shifa Hospital near their home. Their detention followed a five-day siege before Israeli forces stormed the house with heavy gunfire, and the three men were bound and blindfolded before being taken away.

Al-Dahdouh fled south with the other women and children of the family after the house was stormed. Her husband, Naeem al-Dahdouh, then 65, remained behind, and his body was found nearby ten days later.

Before their detention, the sons worked with their father at the family-owned petrol station. Mahmoud is a father of six, the youngest born during the war. Alaa had completed his law degree, and Diaa was preparing to start life after high school. Both Alaa and Diaa were engaged at the time of their detention. Their fiancees are still waiting, she said.

Alaa and Diaa were transferred to Negev prison after their detention, while Mahmoud was reportedly seen in Ofer prison, although his location may have changed due to frequent transfers. "They can endure hunger … we tell ourselves they can endure it. But execution? Not to that extent," she said. "Even those accused, how can a decision like execution be issued?"

In the tent, al-Dahdouh turned over a photograph of Mahmoud as she sat with her grandchildren. She said she raises the children and teaches them the Quran. She said every piece of news, no matter how small, is like a thin thread she clings to, to remain certain that her sons are still alive, but that she no longer knows anything about them.