Israel Has Passed A Law Allowing It To Prosecute And Execute Palestinians Accused Of Taking Part In Hamas’ Oct. 7 Attack
The parliament unanimously passed the law on Monday with 93 votes in favor.
Israel's parliament, the Knesset, has passed a law to prosecute Palestinians accused of taking part in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack and allowing them to be executed.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has arrested thousands of Palestinians, including 1,283 people it deemed as "unlawful combatants," a legal term used to hold people in custody without formally charging them with a crime.
At the same time, Israel has arrested about 200 to 300 Palestinians inside Israel, also without charges or their suspected role in the Oct. 7 attack.
On Monday, May 11, the Knesset passed a new law, creating a special military court for Palestinians accused of taking part in the Oct. 7 attack.
Under the law, the special military court has looser procedural rules, including the ability to adjust evidence and testimony standards, and to sentence the detainees to death.
It will mostly try members of the Nukhba unit, the elite special forces of Hamas’ armed wing al-Qassam Brigades, who Israeli forces captured inside Israel.
The law also requires the court to film the opening hearing, the verdict, and the sentencing, and stream them publicly on a dedicated website.
The parliament unanimously passed the law on Monday with 93 votes in favor.
Yulia Malinovsky, an opposition politician who co-wrote the bill, said in a press conference that the vote marked the start of historic trials the whole world would witness.
Human rights groups condemned the law, saying it "explicitly permits mass trials that deviate from standard rules of evidence, including broad judicial discretion to admit evidence obtained under coercive conditions that may amount to torture or ill-treatment."
Rights groups also say that the public broadcasting of trials could "transform proceedings into show trials at the expense of the accused's rights."
Under international law, a death sentence imposed without strict fair trial guarantees constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of life and is prohibited under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Sofia Hou
Cherry Mohamed
Kassy Cho
