With harsh new realities and facts on the ground in the Occupied Territories, pressure is mounting for the Palestinian National Authority to establish internal peace and gain governmental legitimacy in order to ‘justifiably’ pressure Israel into serious negotiations and to put an end to this decades-old conflict. But recent means to this end have been very controversial, escalating internal tensions and creating new types of resistances.

On Sunday, the PNA carried out its first executions since 2001, killing four convicted criminals who were sentenced to death by a Palestinian court in Gaza between 1995 and 2000. A spokesman from the Ministry of Interior said the implementation of the execution orders, which were signed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday, are part of a new campaign to rein in lawlessness and chaos in Palestinian territories.

“There is a new policy of enforcing the law,” spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa said, according to an Associated Press report.

This policy is a result of intense internal and external pressure that the new Palestinian government has been under to address the unstable conditions of the Palestinian territories, particularly the extensive crime problems. Recent escalations of violence and a breakdown in national security have been a serious problem for the PNA. Honor killings and clashes between Palestinian security forces and Palestinian gunmen, such as the one that took place at the crowded al-Manara square in Ramallah on Sunday afternoon, are just two examples of the rampant lawlessness in the area. Thus, the recent executions seem to be such an attempt to deter criminals and send a message to the public, and perhaps more specifically the Palestinian resistance groups, of the PNA’s control and seriousness to improve internal state of affairs.

But this form of punishment has proven very controversial among both Palestinian citizens and the international community. The practice of the death penalty in Palestine, which has been in place since the PNA’s establishment in 1994, is seen as a violation of citizens’ rights to life as well as an unfair policy that is selectively reviewed and implemented. Global research has shown that the death penalty does not seem to deter crime, and consequently, many countries are abolishing such legislation.

Despite such criticisms, Abbas reinstated the death penalty – as an active law – after the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat halted this form of punishment in 2001. About nine death sentences have been carried out since the law’s establishment, and there are currently fifty-one Palestinians on death row, of which half are alleged collaborators with Israel.

It is clear that lawlessness in Palestinian territories accomplishes nothing except serving the Israeli goal to divide Palestinians from each other and from the region. It is absolutely important and necessary for the rule of law to be instituted and enforced, because it is a fundamental principal in building a credible nation. However, the death penalty is no solution.

It is time both Palestinians and their government unite under an effective system of law and order and prove to Israel and the international community that they are ready and capable of governing an organized, legitimate state. The focus should remain on Israeli’s illegal occupation and its violations of international and human rights laws, not needless civil disputes and controversies.