Israel passes law to allow death penalty and public trials for those linked to 7 October

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Israel passes law to allow death penalty and public trials for those linked to 7 OctoberJust now Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleYolande KnellMiddle East correspondentBBCProtesters campaigning against Israel's new lawIsrael 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. 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.

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"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. The events triggered the deadliest ever war in Gaza, with 72,740 people killed to date - the majority children, women and the elderly, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. Although Israel's parliament passed the Death Penalty for Terrorists Law in March, aimed at Palestinians convicted of terrorism offences, it does not apply retroactively.

This meant that separate legislation was required to deal with those alleged to have carried out the assault. Israeli politicians supporting the law say it will allow for a trial of historic significance, comparing it to that of the Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann. Eichmann - an architect of the Jewish Holocaust - was hanged in 1962, becoming the only person previously sentenced to death by an Israeli civil court.

The new law creates a special legal framework for prosecuting those accused of direct involvement in the attacks, including members of the Nukhba special forces unit of the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, who were captured in Israel. They are expected to face charges ranging from terrorism and murder to sexual violence and also genocide - which will carry the death penalty. They will be tried before a special military court in Jerusalem with different rules from regular criminal trials.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.