From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, May 13, 2026
UN rights chief calls on Israel to abolish October 7 military tribunal
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The United Nations rights chief calls on Israel to repeal a newly established special military tribunal to try Palestinian terrorists accused of taking part in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, invasion and massacre.
The Knesset on Monday night passed a law to establish the special military tribunal, with 93 votes in favor and none opposed.
The rare bipartisan legislation would see the establishment of a special court within the military justice system to try the roughly 300 alleged terrorists captured by security forces inside Israel during the invasion and held in detention since.
Under the legislation, the tribunal will be able to charge the assailants with all relevant crimes, including genocide under the terms of Israel’s 1950 Law for the Prevention of Genocide, harming Israeli sovereignty, causing war, assisting an enemy during a time of war, and terror charges under Israel’s 2016 law for combating terrorism.
Those convicted of genocide charges would be liable for the death penalty.
“There must be full accountability for these horrific attacks, but this cannot be achieved through trials that fall short of international standards,” Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, says in a statement.
“This law must be overturned. This law will inevitably institutionalize one-sided justice and discrimination against Palestinians, which cannot be in anyone’s interest and runs counter to international human rights law,” he says.
In a statement sent to AFP, Israel’s diplomatic mission in Geneva says Turk’s office should concentrate on categorizing Hamas as a terrorist group and “cease blaming Israel for seeking justice for victims.”
The mission says Israel was using a military court because of the “nature and magnitude of the offenses” and the volume of evidence.
“The law does not alter substantive criminal law, create new offenses or penalties, establish retroactive criminal liability, or impose a mandatory death sentence,” the mission says.
The Times of Israel Community.