Palestine: West Bank and Gaza penalties, tables and 20 history entries

Law by Decree No. 29 of 2020 rewrote article 28 of the 2015 narcotics decree. Creating a website to traffic, promotemaking online trafficking, promotion or use narcotic drugs, encryptingthe encryption of dealers' sites or publishing instructions for and published drug-making drugs now bringsinstructions punishable by at least ten years in prison and a fine of 3,000 to –5,000 Jordanian dinarsdinar fine, with prison and fine cumulative rather than alternatives. It also added a higher article 29 penalty of at least fifteen years and a 15,000–25,000 dinar fine for repeat, coercive or minor-related online promotion, and article 32 bis allowing three years' suspended imprisonment for a misdemeanour and five for a felony.

Decree-Law 18 of 2015 bansbanned importing, growing, holding, buying or selling plants that yield drugs, and their seeds, at any stage of growth, and created the current penalty scale: six months to two years for personal use and fifteen to twenty-five years for cultivation for sale. The minister may license growingIt repealed the Jordanian 1955 law in the West Bank and Gaza's 1962 law, and says it applies in both territories, though Gaza's courts later applied the 2013 law instead. It contains no death penalty and allows institutional cultivation licences for medical and scientific purposes.

In theThe West Bank, holding a drug for punishes personal use can bringwith six months to two years, or a fine of 1,000; trafficking reaches fifteen to 5,000 Jordanian dinarstwenty-five years. Gaza's penalties are a separate system2013 law is harsher: three to fifteen years for use and death available for aggravated trafficking.

In the West Bank, holding a drug for personal use is article 17(1) of Decree-Law 18 of 2015, as amended in 2018 and 2020: six months to two years, or a fine of 1,000 to –5,000 Jordanian dinars, or both.[@pa2015] Article 16 is a separate offence, for possession that is neither for sale nor for personal use: four months to one year, or 1,000 to –3,000 dinars, or both.[@pa2015] Gaza applies its own rules2013 narcotics law, under which possession for use carries three to fifteen years and a 5,000–20,000 dinar fine.[@gaza2013] The Palestinian Authority says its 2015 law applies in Gaza too, but Gaza courts have applied the 2013 law.[@pa2015,pchr]

ogbpa2015, lawgaza2013, pchr

In the West Bank, growing for one's own use is article 17(1): six months to two years, or a fine of 1,000 to –5,000 Jordanian dinars, or both.[@pa2015] Growing in order to sell is article 21: life imprisonment of at least, defined as fifteen to twenty-five years, and a fine of at least 15,000 dinars.[@pa2015,pa2018] In Gaza's penalty was not read, growing for use carries three to fifteen years and 5,000–20,000 dinars; growing for sale carries five years to life and 20,000–40,000 dinars, with death available in aggravated cases.[@gaza2013]

ogbpa2015, pa2018, gaza2013

The West Bank and Gaza enforce different laws. In the West Bank a person who uses a, police recorded 2,772 drug can be sentenced to prison or a fine under article 17cases and 3,107 arrests in 2025, including 73.851 kg of cannabis and cannabis products; the figures cover all drugs.[@quds26] In Gaza a, the regular courts and prosecution stopped functioning after October 2023, and police report individual raids rather than annual totals.[@dcaf24,memo25] A Gaza court issuedsentenced a hashish trafficker to death sentence in 2022 for possession with intent to traffic, which rights groups saida sentence the Palestinian Authority's law does not provide for but Gaza's 2013 law does.[@shams,gaza2013]

ogbquds26, dcaf24, memo25, shams, gaza2013

In the West Bank, dealing in order to traffic is article 21: life imprisonment of at least fifteen to twenty-five years and a fine of at least 15,000 dinars.[@pa2015] Supplying a drug for payment can bring at least ten years under article 23and a fine of at least 10,000 dinars; without payment, at least three years and a 3,000–5,000 dinar fine.[@pa2015] In Gaza, trafficking carries five years to life and 20,000–40,000 dinars, with death available where the offence involves protected places, firearms, a repeat offence or a trafficking gang.[@gaza2013]

ogbpa2015, gaza2013

Use is article 17(1) in the West Bank: six months to two years, or a fine of 1,000 to –5,000 dinars, or both.[@pa2015] A person who comes forward for treatment, and a first-time user whom the prosecutor sends to a treatment centre, is not prosecuted while they follow the programme.[@pa2015] A court may suspend the sentence so the person can be treated. A repeat offence, or driving under the influence, raises the minimum to two years or a fine of 2,000 to –5,000 dinars.[@pa2015] In Gaza, use carries three to fifteen years under article 27, with treatment diversion available.[@gaza2013]

ogbpa2015, gaza2013

NoneNo legal source for patients or recreational users. Article 3 lets the health minister license public or private institutions to grow prohibited plants and import plants or seeds for medical and scientific purposes.[@pa2015] No registered cannabis medicine, patient registry or prescription route was found.[@pa2015]

amendpa2015

The health minister may license public or private institutions to grow otherwise prohibited plants and import plants or seeds for medical and scientific purposes under Article 3.[@dl18pa2015] The permission depends on the institution’'s work and compliance with licence conditions;, and the minister must revoke a licence if those conditionsthey are broken.[@dl18pa2015] No operating cannabis grow was found.[@pa2015]

dl18pa2015

None.

amend

MedicalNo medical cannabis programme. Article 3 allows institutional cultivation and seed imports for medical and scientific activities require authorisation under the drug lawwork, including institutional cultivation licences under Article 3not patient supply.[@dl18pa2015] The reviewed sources do not document an operatingNo registered cannabis medicine, patient-supply programme registry or prescription route was found.[@dl18pa2015]

dl18pa2015

A conviction is a criminal record, and the law provides for confiscation of drugs, equipment and proceeds.[@pa2015] In Gaza, a court may deport a foreigner and bar their return under article 40(1)(e); the West Bank drug law has no equivalent provision.[@gaza2013]

lawpa2015, gaza2013

Article 2 of Decree-Law 18 of 2015 bans importing, growing, owning, holding, buying or selling plants that yield drugs, or their seeds, at any stage of growth.[@pa2015] The law defines cultivation as sowing or planting for germination and any care of the plants or their seeds.[@pa2015] Under Articlearticle 3 the minister may license growing or seed imports for medical and scientific purposes.[@pa2015]

dl18pa2015

No cannabis clubs are known, and the law leaves no room for them: growing cannabis and supplying it to another person are both prohibited.[@pa2015] Preparing or managing a place for drug use is an offence in the West Bank and in Gaza.[@pa2015,gaza2013]

amendpa2015, gaza2013

There is no legal recreational supply for anyonevisitors. In the West Bank, holding a drug for personal use can bring six months to two years or a fine of 1,000 to –5,000 Jordanian dinarsdinar fine.[@pa2015] In Gaza's penalty was not read, possession for use carries three to fifteen years, and a court may deport a foreigner after conviction.[@gaza2013]

ogbpa2015, gaza2013

Figures reported by the government to the UN drugs office recordUNODC's last year with a herb and resin split for Palestine is 2023: about 32.3 kg of herbal cannabis seized in 2023, against 29.3 kg in 2021, and 5152 kg of resin.8[@unodc_szr] In 2025 the West Bank police reported 73.851 kg of cannabis resin seized in 2023and cannabis products, against 25a combined figure that does not split herb from resin.6 kg[@quds26] A Jericho seizure in 2021July 2026 found 23 kg of hashish. The UN publishes them as kilogram equivalents[@akhbar26] Gaza reports individual raids, and countries count seizures differently, so the figures are not comparable across bordersa series.[@memo25]

unodc_szr, quds26, akhbar26, memo25

Palestine — Decree-Law 18 of 2015 on narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, consolidated Palestine — Decree-Law 26 of 2018 amending the 2015 drug law (Maqam) Gaza — Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Law No. 7 of 2013 (Arabic PDF) PCHR — death sentence for a drug trafficker in Gaza and the application of the 2013 law WAFA — Public Prosecution reports 1,396 drug cases in 2024 (14 April 2025) QudsNet — Police report 2,772 drug cases and 3,107 arrests in 2025 (31 May 2026) Al-Quds — Palestinian police statistics to 27 September 2026 Akhbar Al-Sharq — 23 kg of hashish seized in Jericho (10 July 2026) Middle East Monitor — Gaza police seize drugs and weapons in Zeitoun (17 November 2025) DCAF — Gaza security and justice providers (2024) قرار بقانون رقم (18) لسنة 2015م بشأن مكافحة المخدرات والمؤثرات العقلية (Maqam, An-Najah National University) An-Najah University legal database — Decree-Law No. 18 of 2015 on narcotics, Article 16 (Arabic) Palestinian Official Gazette bureau — Decree-Law 18 of 2015, consolidated text DCAF Palestine security legislation database — Decree-Law No. 29 of 2020 amending the narcotics law 2 unchanged

JOD

label West Bank personal use (article 17) · treatment criminal · term Personal use · prison min 6 months · prison 2 years · fine min 1000 · fine 5000 · note Prison, fine, or both, label West Bank possession without use or sale (article 16) · treatment criminal · term Other possession · prison min 4 months · prison 1 year · fine min 1000 · fine 3000, label Gaza possession or use (article 27) · treatment criminal · term Personal use · prison min 3 years · prison 15 years · fine min 5000 · fine 20000

JOD

label West Bank growing for personal use (article 17) · treatment criminal · term Personal growing · prison min 6 months · prison 2 years · fine min 1000 · fine 5000, label West Bank growing for sale (article 21) · treatment criminal · term Cultivation for sale · prison min 15 years · prison 25 years · fine min 15000, label Gaza growing for use (article 27) · treatment criminal · term Personal growing · prison min 3 years · prison 15 years · fine min 5000 · fine 20000, label Gaza growing for sale (article 28) · treatment criminal · term Cultivation for sale · prison min 5 years · note Up to life imprisonment; death available in aggravated cases · fine min 20000 · fine 40000

JOD

label West Bank supply for payment (article 23) · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · prison min 10 years · fine min 10000, label West Bank supply without payment (article 23) · treatment criminal · term Supply · prison min 3 years · fine min 3000 · fine 5000, label Gaza trafficking (article 28) · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · prison min 5 years · fine min 20000 · fine 40000 · note Up to life; death available in aggravated cases, label Gaza aggravated trafficking (article 29) · treatment criminal · term Aggravated trafficking · death true · note Death or life and a 20,000–60,000 dinar fine · fine min 20000 · fine 60000

no

No legal source; only institutional medical and research handling is excepted

There is no legal recreational market in either territory. In the West Bank, personal use carries six months to two years and a 1,000–5,000 dinar fine; in Gaza the 2013 law carries three to fifteen years.[@pa2015,gaza2013] Trafficking reaches fifteen to twenty-five years in the West Bank, and death is available in Gaza for aggravated trafficking.[@pa2015,gaza2013] [The 2015 law created the West Bank regime.](/history/palestine-drug-decree-law-2015/)

pa2015, gaza2013

The West Bank's 2015 law has no death penalty for any drug offence; its maximum is fifteen to twenty-five years.[@pa2015] Gaza's 2013 law allows death or life for aggravated trafficking, and death for trafficking that causes death, kills enforcement officials, involves a gang or repeats an aggravated offence.[@gaza2013] Gaza courts imposed death for hashish trafficking in 2022 and 2023, but no execution specifically for cannabis was verified.[@shams,pchr] The Palestinian Authority says its 2015 law applies in Gaza, which would exclude death, but Gaza courts apply the 2013 law and the conflict is unresolved.[@pa2015,pchr]

pa2015, gaza2013, shams, pchr

none

No hemp or CBD regime and no THC threshold. Article 2 bans cannabis plants and seeds at every stage unless licensed under article 3, and no fibre or low-THC exception was found.[@pa2015] Pure CBD's status is unstated; products containing cannabis resin or THC fall under the drug law.[@pa2015]

pa2015

impairment

West Bank article 17(4)(b) raises the minimum to two years or a 2,000–5,000 dinar fine for driving under the influence.[@pa2015] There is no THC limit; the trigger is impairment.[@pa2015] Gaza's 2013 drug law has no separate driving provision, so the general traffic law applies.[@gaza2013]

pa2015, gaza2013

The West Bank police recorded 2,071 drug cases in 2024, and the Public Prosecution investigated 1,396 cases, resolving 97%.[@wafa25] In 2025 police recorded 2,772 cases and 3,107 arrests, including 250 dealers and 2,757 users.[@quds26] By 27 September 2026 they reported 2,150 cases and 2,419 arrests.[@alquds26] The figures cover all drugs and the West Bank.[@quds26] No comparable Gaza totals were published after October 2023.[@dcaf24]

wafa25, quds26, alquds26, dcaf24