{"id":108800,"date":"2026-05-11T17:40:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T17:40:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/108800\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T17:40:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T17:40:17","slug":"israel-pushes-bill-to-try-october-7-palestinians-with-death-penalty-powers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/108800\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel pushes bill to try October 7 Palestinians with death penalty powers"},"content":{"rendered":"

A proposed Israeli bill, with rare bipartisan support, would create a special military tribunal in Jerusalem to prosecute Palestinians detained around the 7 October 2023 attacks. Attorneys and rights groups, including Adalah, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, argue the bill deliberately strips detainees of legal protections, permits evidence obtained under torture, and violates international law. The bill forms part of a wider legislative shift in Israel, including a separately passed law mandating the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis in acts of \u201cterror\u201d.<\/p>\n

Legal experts have warned that legislation being pushed through the Israeli parliament could result in Palestinians detained around the time of the 7 October 2023, attacks face publicly broadcast \u201cshow trials\u201d and the death penalty.<\/p>\n

The proposed bill, which has gained rare bipartisan support from both the governing coalition and the opposition, recently entered the parliament, known as the Knesset, for its final readings and would create a special military tribunal to try Palestinians accused of playing a role in the 7 October attacks, when Hamas-led fighters stormed communities along southern Israel\u2019s fence with Gaza.<\/p>\n

Co-sponsored by Simcha Rothman of the far-right Religious Zionism Party and Yulia Malinovsky of Yisrael Beytenu, and strongly backed by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, the legislation proposes a dedicated military headquarters and court in Jerusalem to handle the mass prosecution of Palestinians seized by Israeli forces on or around 7 October.<\/p>\n

At least 1 139 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the attacks, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on official Israeli statistics. About 240 others were seized as captives. Israel\u2019s subsequent war on Gaza killed at least 72 500 Palestinians and destroyed the territory.<\/p>\n

Crucially, the bill authorises the court to deviate from standard rules around evidence, legal procedures and detention, as well as granting judges the full authority to issue the death penalty against Palestinians implicated by prosecutors in the attacks.<\/p>\n

READ | Israeli opposition tears up draft bill for Netanyahu-backed October 7 probe<\/a><\/p>\n

While some members of the Knesset have championed the bill, the international community and rights groups argue the law could become a political weapon designed to strip detainees of fundamental legal protections.<\/p>\n

It follows the Knesset\u2019s approval of a one-sided bill that will instruct military courts to impose the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis in acts of \u201cterror\u201d, but will not impose the same penalty on Jewish Israelis convicted of killing Palestinians.<\/p>\n

Torture-tainted evidence and \u2018show trials\u2019<\/p>\n

To handle the scale of the mass arrests following 7 October, the legislation permits sweeping exemptions in standard legal procedures during the trials of Palestinian suspects.<\/p>\n

Muna Haddad, an attorney with Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, has submitted a formal objection to the bill. She told Al Jazeera that it intentionally lowers legal protections to guarantee fair trials in order to secure the mass conviction of Palestinians.<\/p>\n

Haddad said:<\/p>\n

The bill 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis constitutes a severe violation of fair trial guarantees that falls well short of international law requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n

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, including opening hearings, verdicts and sentencing.<\/p>\n

Malinovsky, one of the bill\u2019s sponsors, said that \u201cthe entire world will witness\u201d the proceedings.<\/p>\n

Haddad warned that this provision effectively \u201ctransforms proceedings into show trials at the expense of the accused\u2019s rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe provisions governing public hearings\u2026 violate the presumption of innocence, the right to a fair trial, and the right to dignity,\u201d Haddad explained. \u201cThe framework effectively treats indictment as a finding of guilt, before any judicial examination has begun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weaponising the Genocide Law<\/p>\n

Because newly passed capital punishment laws cannot be applied retroactively, the new framework seeks to transplant existing Israeli criminal codes \u2013 such as treason, assisting an enemy in wartime and the 1950 Law for Preventing and Punishing the Crime of Genocide \u2013 into an entirely new legal construct with substantially lower standards of due process.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The swearing-in ceremony of the 19th Knesset, the legislative branch of the Israeli parliament, on 5 February 2013 in Jerusalem, Israel.<\/p>\n

Ronen Zvulun-Pool\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Israeli legislators have repeatedly compared the upcoming proceedings to the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann, a chief architect of the Nazi Holocaust; however, Haddad pointed out glaring historical and legal discrepancies in drawing parallels.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdolf Eichmann was not, in fact, tried under the Genocide Law but the Nazi and Nazi Collaborators (Punishment) Law,\u201d she clarified.<\/p>\n

Haddad warned that the bill seeks to apply the crime of genocide in an \u201cexpansive and exceptional manner, despite it being one of the most serious, complex and narrowly defined offences in international law, one whose adjudication demands particularly rigorous evidentiary and legal scrutiny\u201d.<\/p>\n

An \u2018arbitrary deprivation of life\u2019<\/p>\n

Israel strictly limits the death penalty under civil law and has only carried out executions twice in its history. However, the domestic political climate has shifted drastically in recent years. The internal security agency, the Shin Bet, has publicly supported the potential use of the death penalty for October 7 attackers in what it describes as an act of deterrence.<\/p>\n

When asked if the push for executions was merely domestic political theatre, Haddad was unequivocal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not political theatre,\u201d she told Al Jazeera. \u201cLawmakers have clearly and explicitly stated their expectation that the death penalty will be applied. Taken together with the recent passage of the March 2026 death penalty law, we are witnessing a deliberate move toward ending Israel\u2019s long-standing moratorium on the death penalty and operationalising it in practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

An Israeli airstrike in Gaza Strip, Palestine, on 7 October 2023 after the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched an assault that combined gunmen crossing into Israel with a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza.<\/p>\n

Momen Faiz\/NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Under international law, imposing the death penalty through a compromised judicial process is illegal. \u201cAny death sentence imposed in the absence of strict fair trial guarantees constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of life and is absolutely prohibited under international law,\u201d Haddad said, citing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).<\/p>\n

The risk of unchecked judicial authority is compounded by the fact that the minister of defence \u2013 a political actor \u2013 would be granted overarching authority over the law\u2019s implementation, requiring only periodic written reports to a Knesset committee rather than independent civilian or judicial oversight.<\/p>\n

Historically, Israel has operated two parallel legal systems in the occupied territories: civil law for Israeli settlers and military law for Palestinians.<\/p>\n

According to data cited by Israeli rights groups, Palestinians tried in Israeli military courts face a conviction rate of 99.74%. In contrast, the conviction rate for Israelis tried in civilian courts for crimes committed against Palestinians is just around 3%.<\/p>\n

Prominent international rights organisations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW), have previously described Israel\u2019s legislative manoeuvres regarding the death penalty for Palestinians as a \u201cdiscriminatory tool\u201d that entrenches a \u201csystem of apartheid\u201c.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A proposed Israeli bill, with rare bipartisan support, would create a special military tribunal in Jerusalem to prosecute…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[37,1915,8221,498],"class_list":{"0":"post-108800","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-israel","9":"tag-legislation","10":"tag-october-7","11":"tag-palestine"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116557173502279297","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}