Israel | Bill to prosecute Oct 7 terrorists on genocide charges gains traction

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a bill on Sunday that seeks to prosecute Hamas Oct. 7 terrorists on charges of genocide against the Jewish state.

The proposed legislation calls for the creation of a special court with 15 judges who would be tasked with handling criminal trials for individuals facing such charges. The new bill calls for the death penalty as the maximum sentence for those convicted of genocide.

The bill was jointly initiated by lawmaker Simcha Rothman, from the Religious Zionism party, and the lawmaker Yulia Malinovsky of the Yisrael Beytenu opposition party. The bill is expected to advance to the Knesset for approval.

The two lawmakers argued that Israel’s current legal tools are insufficient for addressing the crimes against humanity committed by terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023.

“When it comes to the Nukhba terrorists, from a legal standpoint, the State of Israel remains stuck in a mindset that predates October 7. The current legal tools are inadequate and irrelevant for addressing an act of genocide and mass murder,” Rothman stated.

“Anyone trying to force this into the framework of regular criminal law is destroying the entire legal process. As proof, up until now, not even a single indictment has been filed. That’s why we must fundamentally change the legal structure,” he added.

The new bill is calling for a special court with the authority to “deviate from established evidentiary and procedural rules, while taking into account, among other things, the need to protect victims of the crime and their families, to ease the hearing of evidence in multi-defendant proceedings, to reduce intermediate and preliminary procedures, to ensure the public nature of the proceedings and make them accessible to various target audiences in Israel and around the world, and to conduct proceedings efficiently, in order to achieve justice.”

The bill stresses the complexity and severity of the Oct. 7 crimes.

“The complexity of the events [on October 7], their unprecedented scale, and the unique nature of the crimes committed require a distinct legal response. The conventional legal system is not equipped to handle crimes of such magnitude, which were carried out simultaneously by hundreds of perpetrators. Moreover, the special nature of these crimes – including crimes against humanity and acts amounting to genocide – necessitates expertise and a unique legal approach,” the bill states.

The proposed law also seeks to prevent future attacks against the Jewish people in Israel.

“Additionally, there is an urgent need for swift and effective action on this issue, both in terms of deterrence and ensuring justice for the victims and their families.”

“In light of this, a proposal is made to establish a special and separate legal mechanism tailored to address genocide-related crimes, specifically regarding the events of October 7 that amount to such offenses,” it added.

In October 2024, Rothman and Malinovsky revealed their intention to present a bill to prosecute terrorists who committed the massacres and other atrocities against Israeli civilians and foreign nationals during the attack in 2023.

Malinovsky criticized the Netanyahu government at the time for failing to the prioritize prosecution of war crimes against Israelis.

"The government had a whole year to prepare for prosecuting those involved, but failed to make it a priority," she said.

However, the bill is now being challenged by lawyers from the Attorney General’s Office.

“The investigation of the terrorists involved in the events of October 7 is in advanced stages and is being handled as a top priority by law enforcement authorities. The proposal undermines the independence of law enforcement agencies and could harm the international legitimacy of the procedures being carried out – and those that will be carried out – by the State of Israel. Additionally, it may affect Israel’s broader interests in the international arena,” the Israeli lawyers responded.

Source: allisraelnews.com, Staff, May 26, 2025

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

Comments

Former FedEx driver sentenced to death for killing 7-year-old girl after delivery at her Texas home

DALLAS (AP) — A former FedEx driver was sentenced to death on Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to killing a 7-year-old girl he took from her Texas home while delivering a Christmas gift. Jurors in a Fort Worth courtroom decided on Tanner Horner's punishment after hearing about a month of testimony and evidence that included audio of Athena Strand's last moments from inside his delivery van. Horner, 34, pleaded guilty to capital murder last month in the 2022 killing just as his trial began. Athena's body was found two days after she was reported missing from her home in the rural town of Paradise, near Fort Worth.

South Dakota | Latest appeal from state's lone death row inmate denied

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit has rejected the latest appeal from Briley Piper, the only person on death row in South Dakota. In March 2000, Briley Piper, along with co-defendants Elijah Page and Darrell Hoadley, conspired to burglarize the Lawrence County home of 19-year-old Chester Poage before abducting and murdering him by beating, stabbing, and stoning in a remote area. Piper was subsequently arrested, convicted of murder, and sentenced to death, while his accomplices received either a death sentence—carried out against Page in 2007—or a sentence of life imprisonment without parole.

20 Minutes to Death: Witness to the Last Execution in France

The following document is a firsthand account of the final moments of Hamida Djandoubi, a convicted murderer executed by guillotine at Marseille’s Baumettes Prison on September 10, 1977. The record—dated September 9—was written by Monique Mabelly, a judge appointed by the state to witness the proceedings. Djandoubi’s execution would ultimately be the last carried out in France before capital punishment was abolished in 1981. At the time, President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing—who had publicly voiced his "deep aversion to the death penalty" prior to his election—rejected Djandoubi’s appeal for clemency. Choosing to let "justice take its course," the President allowed the execution to proceed, just as he had in two previous cases during his term: Christian Ranucci , executed on July 28, 1976 and Jérôme Carrein , executed on June 23, 1977. Hamida Djandoubi , a Tunisian national, was sentenced to death for killing his former lover, Elisabeth Bousquet. He was execu...

South Carolina | Inmate who believes he’s died repeatedly can’t be executed, judge rules

SPARTANBURG — A 59-year-old man sentenced to death for killing a state trooper in Greenville County in 2000 can’t be executed because of a mental illness that’s left him incoherent and believing he’s immortal, a Circuit Court judge has ruled. John Richard Wood is the first condemned inmate in South Carolina found not competent to be executed since the state restarted capital punishment in September 2024. The seven executions since then include three men who chose to die by firing squad — the latest in November. Wood, convicted 24 years ago, was among death row inmates in line to receive a death warrant after exhausting their regular appeals.

Idaho eyes restart of death row executions as firing squad draws near

BOISE, Idaho — Idaho’s prison system has nearly completed execution chamber upgrades to carry out the death penalty by firing squad as the state’s lead method and will have a team of riflemen ready to go by the time a state law takes effect this summer. As part of the transition, the Idaho Department of Correction hopes to limit participation by its officers as the shooting of condemned people in prison to death is prioritized over lethal injection. Toward that effort, prisoner leadership sought to implement a push-button technology to avoid needing IDOC workers to pull the triggers.

Will the US Supreme Court end nitrogen gas executions?

When President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, he directed his administration to “ restor[e] the death penalty .” His embrace of capital punishment helped fuel a surge in executions at the state level last year, as I previously reported , and led the Justice Department to produce a report on “strengthening” the federal death penalty, which was released late last month. In the report, the Justice Department defended the use of pentobarbital – a powerful sedative – for lethal injections, criticizing the Biden administration’s determination that it may cause “unnecessary pain and suffering.” Nevertheless, citing ongoing legal challenges to pentobarbital use and related problems obtaining the drugs used in lethal injections, the DOJ recommended expanding the list of federal execution methods by adding firing squads, electrocution, and lethal gas.

Arizona | Man who murdered pastor crucifixion style requests plea deal after parents killed in plane crash

Adam Sheafe, the California man who admitted to killing a New River, Arizona, pastor in a crucifixion-style attack, has asked prosecutors to offer him a plea deal that would result in a natural life sentence rather than the death penalty he had previously sought. Advisory council attorneys representing Sheafe sent a formal plea offer to prosecutors this week, about two weeks after his father and stepmother died in a plane crash at Marana Airport on April 8, according to 12 News. Sheafe, 51, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of William Schonemann, 76, pastor of New River Bible Church, who was found dead inside his home last April.

China | Man sentenced to death for murder executed in Yunnan

Tian Yongming, who was initially sentenced for a series of violent crimes and then had his sentence changed to death early this year, has been executed in Yunnan province following approval from China's top court. The execution was carried out by the Intermediate People's Court in Yuxi, Yunnan, on Tuesday, with local prosecutors supervising the process. Before the execution, Tian was allowed to meet with his family members. The case dates back to September 1996, when Tian was sentenced to nine years in prison for the rape and attempted murder of his sister-in-law. After his release on July 15, 2002, he plotted revenge against the woman. On the night of Nov 13, 2002, he broke into her home armed with a knife.

American Fugitive Flees to Italy hoping to Escape the Death Penalty

American Murder Suspect Cut Off His Ankle Bracelet and Fled to Italy to Escape the Death Penalty Lee Mongerson Gilley Flew From Houston to Milan on Two False Identities. He Was Caught the Moment He Landed. It reads like the opening of a thriller. A man under electronic surveillance in Houston, suspected of killing his pregnant wife, cuts off his ankle bracelet, boards a flight to Canada under a false identity, transfers to a second flight to Italy under a second false identity, and lands at Milan Malpensa with a single objective: to place himself beyond the reach of Texas justice and its death penalty. The plan failed at the first step on Italian soil. Lee Mongerson Gilley, 39, an American software engineer wanted in the United States on suspicion of murdering his ex-wife in October 2024, was identified and detained the moment he arrived at Malpensa. He had cut off his electronic monitoring bracelet in Houston, flown first to Canada using one set of false documents, and then to Italy u...

Florida executes James Ernest Hitchcock

STARKE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man convicted of beating and choking his brother’s 13-year-old stepdaughter to death nearly 50 years ago was executed Thursday evening. James Ernest Hitchcock, 70, was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. He was convicted of the July 1976 killing of Cynthia Driggers. The curtain to the death chamber opened promptly at the 6 p.m. execution time. Hitchcock’s entire body was covered in a sheet up to his head. He stared at the ceiling as the team warden made a call, then gave his final statement.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog