Khaberni - The Knesset's general assembly has approved in the first reading a bill for the trial of participants in the events of October 7, 2023, according to the Israeli Channel 14.
The channel reported that the Knesset's general assembly approved, on Monday, the first reading with a majority of 19 members and without opposition, the bill that organizes the proceedings to try members of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and their partners involved in the October 7, 2023 attack.
According to the channel, the bill stipulates the establishment of a special judicial body headed by a retired judge from the central court, which will oversee the judicial proceedings against the prisoners, instead of the currently existing judicial courts.
This court will be granted the authority to look into "serious crimes, including those specified in the Genocide Law, state sovereignty violations, and providing assistance to the enemy during wartime, in addition to terrorism crimes," the channel stated.
The channel added that the law allows deviation from the criminal procedures and evidence rules usually followed, with the aim of ensuring what it called "the truth," while emphasizing the preservation of the trial's integrity.
According to the bill, sessions will be held publicly and will be broadcast on a dedicated website, as well as preserved within the state archives.
Death Penalty
The channel clarified that the bill allows for the imposition of the death penalty on those convicted of murder and expressly prohibits their release in any future prisoner exchange deals.
The law also includes the establishment of a steering committee headed by the Prime Minister, and including the Ministers of Justice, Defense, and Foreign Affairs, which will determine the prosecution policy in these cases, according to the channel.
The Israeli Broadcasting Authority mentioned that the bill stipulates that the death sentence shall be executed by hanging, noting that the convicted prisoners will be held in a separate detention facility, and visits will only be allowed for authorized entities, with meetings with lawyers being conducted via video call and not in person.
As per legislative procedures in the Knesset, after the bill is approved in the first reading, it is referred to the relevant committee for discussion and amendment, before being presented again to the general assembly for voting in the second and third readings, which will decide its final wording.
Last December, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supported the bill, opposing the National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's attempt to include participants of the October 7, 2023 attack within a broader death penalty law he was promoting.
Also last month, the Southern District Attorney General Erez Padan reported that the public prosecution tasked with investigating more than 300 suspects involved in the attack had completed drafting the indictments.
Except for this mention of the number of prisoners accused of participating in the October 7, 2023 attack, Israel has not disclosed an exact official number of those it has detained on this charge, nor announced details about each detainee.
Since the beginning of the Israeli genocide war on Gaza over two years ago, the occupation has arrested thousands of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and most of Gaza's prisoners are missing due to the lack of information about them and the occupation's refusal to disclose details about them.
