Israel has passed a new law to impose the death penalty and conduct public trials for Palestinians accused of involvement in the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023.
The bill, which was unusually jointly sponsored by government and opposition politicians, establishes a special tribunal with the power to impose the death penalty on those accused.
The bill passed 93-0 in Israel’s 120-seat parliament, the Knesset. The remaining 27 legislators were absent or abstained from voting.
In a departure from standard Israeli judicial practice, which typically prohibits courtroom cameras, the bill mandates the filming and public broadcasting of key moments in the trials on a dedicated website.
The new law creates a special legal framework for prosecuting those accused of direct involvement in the attacks, including members of the Nukhba special forces unit of the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, who were captured in Israel. They are expected to face charges ranging from terrorism and murder to sexual violence and also genocide – which will carry the death penalty.
They will be tried before a special military court in Jerusalem with different rules from regular criminal trials. Key moments of hearings including the opening, verdict, and sentencing are due to be filmed and broadcast on a dedicated website.
Addressing a news conference ahead of the parliamentary votes, Yulia Malinovsky, a Co-sponsor of the bill, said, “May everyone see how the victims and their families look into the whites of the eyes of those murderers, rapists and kidnappers.”
“May everyone see how the State of Israel is a sovereign state which knows how to hold those who harmed it to account. We have reached the finish line, which is actually the starting line: the beginning of historic trials, which the whole world will see.”
Yulia Malinovsky
Israeli politicians supporting the law say it will allow for a trial of historic significance, comparing it to that of the Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann. Eichmann, an architect of the Jewish Holocaust, was hanged in 1962, becoming the only person previously sentenced to death by an Israeli civil court.
Israel has been holding an estimated 200-300 Palestinians, including those captured in the country during the October 7 attacks, who have not yet been charged.
The Hamas-led assault on Israeli communities along Israel’s southern fence with Gaza killed at least 1,139 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official Israeli statistics. About 240 others were seized as captives. Israel’s subsequent genocidal war on Gaza has killed at least 72,628 Palestinians, including at least 846 since a United States-brokered “ceasefire” came into effect last October.
Rights Groups Criticise New Law
Israeli and Palestinian rights groups warn that the bill will make the death penalty too easy to impose while also doing away with procedures safeguarding the right to a fair trial.
Israeli human rights groups spoke out against the new law, opposing the principle of capital punishment but also warning against “show trials” based on confessions allegedly extracted under torture.
Several Israeli rights groups, including Hamoked, Adalah and the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, said that while “justice for the victims of October 7 is a legitimate and urgent imperative”, any accountability for the crimes “must be pursued through a process which includes rather than abandons the principles of justice.”
Proponents of the new law say the military court will adjust some normal rules of evidence and procedure so that it can handle a legal process of huge size and import. They argue that this will not significantly affect the fairness of the trial.
However, human rights groups dispute that, saying that existing procedures are designed to protect defendants’ rights. They expect some hearings to be held without the defendants being physically present.
Sari Bashi, Executive Director of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, stated, “Government coalition members have made it clear that they expect mass executions to result from this court that they’ve established.”
“We know that Palestinians being held on suspicion of participating in the crimes of October 7 have been tortured, systematically and in a widespread way. My concern is that they are going to be convicted and even executed based on confessions extracted under torture.
“The people who are responsible for attacking civilians in southern Israel should be held accountable, but not like this. They deserve due process, and the death penalty should never be on the table.”
Sari Bashi
The Israeli government denies accusations of widespread torture asserting that it complies with standards of international law.
The bill is separate from a law passed in March that approved the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis, a measure harshly condemned by the international community and rights groups as discriminatory and inhumane. That law applies to future cases and is not retroactive, so it could not apply to the October 2023 suspects.
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