Israel has passed a new law to impose the death penalty and conduct public trials for those involved in the unprecedented Hamas-led attacks and mass hostage-taking in Israel in October 2023.
The legislation was passed by 93 votes to 0 in Israel’s parliament – the Knesset, and was unusually jointly sponsored by government and opposition politicians.
It was added that the remaining 27 lawmakers were absent or abstained.
“May everyone see how the victims and their families look into the whites of the eyes of those murderers, rapists and kidnappers,” Yulia Malinovsky, a co-sponsor of the bill, told a news conference ahead of the parliamentary votes.
“May everyone see how the State of Israel is a sovereign state which knows how to hold those who harmed it to account,” the opposition politician said.
“We have reached the finish line, which is actually the starting line: the beginning of historic trials, which the whole world will see.”
Israeli human rights groups have spoken out against the new law, opposing the principle of capital punishment but also warning against show trials based on confessions allegedly extracted under torture.
7 October 2023 was the deadliest day in the history of Israel.
Hamas-led fighters killed over 1,200 people in southern Israel, mostly civilians. Another 251 were kidnapped and held in captivity in the Gaza Strip, including men, women, children, and foreign nationals.
