Israel to try Oct. 7 Hamas terrorists in special military tribunal amid debates over death penalty

Military Advocate General Itay Offir will oversee the cases under new legislation advancing in the Knesset, with indictments against more than 300 captured Nukhba terrorists already prepared, officials say

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said Monday that the Military Advocate General’s Corps will oversee the prosecution of Hamas Nukhba terrorists accused of carrying out the Oct. 7 massacre, instead of the State Attorney’s Office.

The decision comes as legislation regulating the prosecution of the terrorists advances in the Knesset and was approved by the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee for a first reading.

In a statement, Baharav-Miara said the decision was made following a meeting with State Attorney Amit Aisman and Military Advocate General Itay Offir. In light of the bill being promoted in the Knesset and the legislature’s directive that proceedings be conducted in a military court, it was decided the cases would be managed by the Military Advocate General’s prosecution before a special military court to be established for that purpose, she said.

An unprecedented investigation in scope, unlike anything seen in Israel and in the world.

“All relevant authorities will continue to cooperate in handling the case and act to bring the terrorists to justice,” she said.

The bill, initiated by lawmakers Simcha Rothman of the Religious Zionism party and Yulia Malinovsky of Yisrael Beitenu, was approved for a first reading at the end of December after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave his backing.

Weeks before the decision, Southern District Attorney Erez Padan said prosecutors overseeing the investigations of more than 300 Nukhba terrorists had completed preparing indictments. He said that over two years authorities worked intensively with police and the Shin Bet security service to advance the prosecution of all those who took part in the massacre and were captured and detained.

“This is an unprecedented investigation in scope, unlike anything seen in Israel and, I believe, in the world,” Padan said. He said suspects were captured in three waves: on Oct. 7, in the days that followed during efforts to clear the area, and during the ground maneuver, which he said is ongoing. Dozens of massacre and destruction scenes were investigated, he added.

How the process will work

The legislation seeks to regulate the prosecution of Hamas terrorists and their accomplices who carried out acts of war, murder, rape, kidnapping and looting from Oct. 7 through Oct. 10, as well as those who committed offenses against hostages afterward.

Under the proposal, indictments will be filed in a special military court established under Defense Regulations. Charges could include genocide, harming the sovereignty or territorial integrity of the state, initiating war, aiding the enemy in wartime, offenses under the Counterterrorism Law and murder.

The court will sit in panels headed by a presiding judge who is a retired district court judge serving as a military officer, alongside two additional members who are officers qualified to be appointed as district court judges with criminal law expertise.

Appeals may be heard before a panel headed by a retired Supreme Court justice, a retired district court president or the president of the Military Court of Appeals, along with two retired district court judges. Decisions will be made by majority vote.

In cases where a death sentence is imposed and no appeal is filed by the defendant, an automatic appeal will be considered as having been submitted.

Unlike other military courts, the chief of staff will not be required to confirm the verdict and will have no authority to intervene in rulings or sentences.

Proceedings will follow the rules of procedure and evidence applied in courts operating under the Courts Law, though the court may deviate from them if it determines, with reasons recorded, that doing so is necessary and does not substantially harm the fairness of the proceedings.

Hearings will be broadcast on a dedicated website unless held behind closed doors or if the court orders otherwise for recorded reasons. All proceedings will be audiovisually documented and preserved in the state archives. Defendants will be entitled to choose qualified defense attorneys from Israel or from the West Bank.

The proposal also calls for establishing a ministerial steering committee to coordinate government preparations for prosecuting participants in the Oct. 7 massacre and to formulate government policy on the matter. The committee would be chaired by Netanyahu and include Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Defense Minister Israel Katz and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.

Source: ynetnews.com, Staff, February 17, 2026

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

— Oscar Wilde

Death Penalty News For a World without the Death Penalty

Comments

Florida executes Daniel Owen Conahan Jr.

In Florida’s 15th execution this year, man put to death for killing linked to ‘Hog Trail Murders’ A Florida man convicted in one of a series of suspected killings that became known as the “Hog Trail Murders” in the 1990s was put to death Thursday, becoming the state’s 15th person executed this year. Daniel Owen Conahan Jr., 72, was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. after receiving a 3-drug lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. He had been sentenced to die for the 1996 kidnapping and strangling of Richard Allen Montgomery, whose mutilated body was found in a wooded southwest Florida area where authorities found the remains of at least 6 people over a 3-year span.

Florida to execute William Thompson after nearly 48 years on death row

On Sept. 11, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a death warrant for William Thompson, convicted of the 1976 kidnapping, rape, and murder of 23-year-old Sally Ivester. Thompson, now 74, and another man were staying in a Miami Beach hotel room with Ivester and another woman, according to court records. After Ivester was unable to get money from her mother, the men beat and tortured her, prosecutors said. She died from internal bleeding and multiple injuries. Thompson was convicted in 1978 of kidnapping, rape, and first-degree murder.

Singapore | Ministry of Home Affairs refutes claims that death penalty was discussed during visit by Israel's security ministry

The Ministry of Home Affairs says discussions with the Israeli government involved the sharing of best practices in emergency response, crime prevention, and forensics. Issues relating to the death penalty “were never part of the meeting and were not discussed." SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday (Sep 11) refuted claims by an Israeli media outlet that the death penalty was discussed during a visit by an Israeli delegation in May. The Haaretz newspaper reported on Sep 7 that a delegation comprising representatives from the Israel Prison Service and National Security Ministry made a “secret visit” to Singapore that month.

Afghanistan | Signs that horrific brutality is set to return

Kneeling next to a ditch, deep in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan, a 22-year-old woman draws her last breath in a 'desert court' before she is shot in the back with an AK-47. Her executioner? Likely her hardline militant husband, in what the Taliban consider an 'honour killing'. It took less than an hour to decide Najiba had been adulterous – although it has been suggested this accusation was fabricated to protect her husband's reputation. Adultery is a crime that deserves capital punishment under the Taliban's strict interpretation of Sharia law. Fourteen years on from her death, little is known about her story, like many women slowly being erased from the fabric of Afghan society.

California | He spent 19 years on death row. His conversion to Judaism helped him endure

Johnny Morales struggled to find sleep. He dozed off for a few moments, but officers came to his death row cell and woke him a little after midnight. They needed to inventory and box up his belongings. He was leaving San Quentin. Hands cuffed behind his back, he walked across the empty upper yard in the dim gray hours before daylight. An officer walked alongside him step for step, black latex-gloved fingers holding onto Morales’s arm. For almost 20 years, Morales could only experience the world outside his 4-by-11 foot cell in the condemned housing unit like this—chained and escorted by officers. Security protocols required all death row residents be handcuffed or shackled any time they were out in open space with staff.

California | Becerra vows to extend moratorium despite past support for capital punishment

SACRAMENTO—Democrat Xavier Becerra defended the death penalty while serving as California’s attorney general, a punishment his office actively sought in the case of a gunman convicted of an Orange County mass shooting, but as the front-running candidate for governor, he has vowed to block executions if elected in November. Becerra said he will extend the blanket reprieve for all death row inmates that Gov. Gavin Newsom enacted by executive order in 2019, saying he supported “moving our state away from a costly, flawed system that disproportionately impacts Black and brown communities and too often gets it wrong.”

Alabama | Lethal injection for double murderer set for Thursday after court blocked nitrogen hypoxia execution in June

Alabama plans to execute Jeffery Lee on Thursday via lethal injection after a down-to-the-wire decision by the federal courts halted his death by nitrogen hypoxia in June. In response, Gov. Kay Ivey set the 30-hour window for the execution to be carried out by lethal injection beginning at 12 a.m. on Thursday, September 17, and expiring at 6 a.m. on Friday, September 18. Barring any further court action, the execution will take place at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore.

Iran | Afghan Citizen Executed in Wheelchair Due to Severe Mobility Disability

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Iranian authorities have reportedly executed an Afghan citizen, identified as Valijan Nourzay, at the central prison in Rafsanjan, according to the human rights organization Hengaw. Hengaw said in a statement on Sunday, September 6, that Nourzay was executed early Wednesday last week at Rafsanjan Central Prison. According to the organization, Nourzay had a severe mobility disability and was executed while in a wheelchair. Hengaw, citing informed sources, reported that Nourzay had been pursued by Iranian authorities three years ago over an alleged murder. He was reportedly seriously wounded after Iranian security forces opened fire on him in Rafsanjan before being arrested and later sentenced to death.

He Spent 27 Years on Death Row as a Wrongfully Convicted Man. What Comes Next?

23-hour solitary confinement. 115-degree heat. Jimmie Duncan is haunted by the decades he spent in Louisiana’s Angola Prison—and how, even after being released, he still isn’t truly free. Jimmie “Chris” Duncan wiped the sweat off his forehead as he assessed his temporary home from the parking lot of a rundown motel in central Louisiana. Sure, there’s drug dealing and prostitution, he said on a recent summer afternoon. And he suspected his neighbors were cooking meth on a floor below the room he paid $350 a week to rent.

Egypt TV presenter and 11 others sentenced to death in major drugs case

Egyptian television presenter Sarah Khalifa and 11 others have been sentenced to death by hanging after being convicted of drug trafficking and rape, while nine defendants received life sentences and seven were acquitted. Egyptian television presenter Sarah Khalifa, 39, has been sentenced to death by hanging along with 11 other defendants after being found guilty in a drugs case involving a criminal gang accused of importing ingredients used to manufacture narcotics for sale.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog