Israel said likely to form tribunal to try Hamas terrorists for October 7 atrocities
Legal authorites reportedly discussing the correct way to bring to justice the over 200 terrorists detained in Israel
Israel will form a special tribunal to oversee the criminal cases against hundreds of detained Hamas terrorists who participated in the October 7 atrocities, according to a report on Friday.
According to the Kan public broadcaster, the legal adviser to the government, the attorney’s office, the court administration and the public defender’s office are all in agreement that regular criminal law isn’t the correct avenue to try those who took part in Hamas’s October 7 massacre.
Some 200 Hamas terrorists were captured alive by Israel after 3,000 of the group’s members stormed into southern Israel on the morning of October 7, killing 1,400 people and taking at least 240 hostages.
The vast majority of those massacred were civilians, with women, children and the elderly among the dead. Entire families were butchered in their homes and over 260 people were mowed down at a music festival.
In addition to the 200 captured terrorists, others have been detained and brought into Israel from Gaza amid the ground invasion in which Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas from the Gaza Strip, where the group has ruled since 2007. It is unclear how many Gazans have been detained under those circumstances.
Discussions between legal bodies on how to bring the detained terrorists to justice are reported to be ongoing, but the likely solution will be to pass special legislation to empower a tribunal, with the purpose of holding a historic judicial case against Hamas “to present to the world the goals, roots, funders and activities of the murderous terror group.”
The Justice Ministry declined to confirm or deny the report.
Another route through which the terrorists could be brought to justice was presented by Energy Minister Israel Katz on October 24 in a letter to Justice Minister Yariv Levin.
Katz requested permission to create a drumhead court that would operate according to Israel’s law for prosecuting Nazis and collaborators.
The law would then allow Israel to execute the terrorists it holds, something which is only permitted to do under the laws pertaining to Nazis.
“The acts of these vile Hamas wretches, who cut off heads and limbs, tortured, burned, raped are no less severe than those of the Nazis,” Katz wrote, adding that he didn’t consider extending the law to include the October 7 terrorists to be overreach.
