Israeli legislators have approved a bill to set up a special tribunal empowered to impose the death penalty on Palestinians accused of involvement in the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023.
The legislation passed 93–0 in the 120-seat Knesset late on Monday. The remaining 27 members either abstained or were absent, reports Al Jazeera.
Rights groups in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories have warned that the law lowers safeguards for fair trials and could make the death penalty easier to impose.
Muna Haddad, a lawyer with Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, told Al Jazeera that the bill deliberately weakens legal protections to ensure mass convictions of Palestinians.
“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,” Haddad said.
“This constitutes a severe violation of fair trial guarantees that falls well short of international law requirements.”
The legislation also departs from normal Israeli judicial practice, which generally bans courtroom cameras. It requires that key stages of the trials be filmed and broadcast publicly on a dedicated website, including opening hearings, verdicts and sentencing.
Haddad warned that this would turn proceedings into public spectacles.
“The provisions governing public hearings… violate the presumption of innocence, the right to a fair trial, and the right to dignity,” Haddad explained. “The framework effectively treats indictment as a finding of guilt, before any judicial examination has begun.”
Israel is currently holding an estimated 200–300 Palestinians, including people detained inside the country during the 7 October attacks, many of whom have not yet been charged.
The Hamas-led assault on southern Israeli communities killed at least 1,139 people, mostly civilians, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on official Israeli figures. Around 240 others were taken captive.
Since then, Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 72,628 Palestinians, including at least 846 since a United States-brokered “ceasefire” took effect last October. United Nations experts have said the war could amount to genocide, leaving much of the Palestinian territory in ruins.
Several Israeli rights organisations – including Hamoked, Adalah and the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel – said while “justice for the victims of October 7 is a legitimate and urgent imperative”, accountability must still follow fair judicial principles.
The new bill is separate from a law passed in March that allows the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis.
Rights groups and the international community widely condemned that law as discriminatory and inhumane. It applies only to future cases and is not retroactive, meaning it cannot be used against suspects linked to the October 2023 attacks.
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said the new legislation “serves as a cover for the war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza”.
Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court is investigating Israel’s conduct in the Gaza war and has issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as three Hamas leaders who have since been killed by Israel.
Israel is also facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice. It rejects all such allegations.
