Overview
- Israel’s parliament approved a law creating a special military court for Palestinians accused over the Oct. 7 attacks, with a 93–0 vote authorizing public livestreams of trials and allowing death sentences.
- UN human rights chief Volker Türk called for the law to be overturned, warning it targets only Palestinians, enables mass trials, may admit evidence obtained under duress, and risks unlawful executions.
- Israel’s mission in Geneva rejected the criticism and said the statute changes no core crimes, adds no retroactive liability, and does not mandate death sentences, describing the tribunal as a response to the scale of the cases.
- Lawmakers added a clause that bars anyone convicted under this framework from release in future prisoner exchanges, a step Hamas condemned as a dangerous escalation that could carry grave consequences.
- Israeli media report about 400 suspects could face the new court, which would mark a rare use of capital punishment in Israel, where the last execution followed the 1961–62 Eichmann trial.