Death Penalty News

Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has posted a video of the construction of a gallows complex where Palestinians convicted of terror offenses will be hanged. Ben-Givr said the new execution site would be equipped with viewing booths for families of victims to watch the hangings. He posted the video on social media of a visit he had made to the unidentified location, where he can be seen pointing at foundations being laid and saying it was where “terrorists will be executed." Photographs in the Israeli media showed a bulldozer and heavy construction work in a cordoned-off area, reportedly close to a prison.

The death penalty law for West Bank Palestinians convicted of deadly acts of terrorism came into effect Sunday night, after the commander of the IDF Central Command, Maj. Gen Avi Bluth, signed the military order necessary to enact the measure in the territory. The order requires that a military court presiding over the prosecution of terrorists whose attacks resulted in the death of a victim apply the death penalty alone as the only available sentence, unless the court finds special circumstances allowing for life imprisonment. Following the passage of the legislation at the end of March, Defense Minister Israel Katz requested that Bluth approve the military order, which he did on Sunday.

Prosecutors said Friday that they will seek the death penalty for a Chicago man charged with fatally shooting two Israeli embassy staffers in the US capital last year. Elias Rodriguez was arrested immediately after the May 21 shooting of Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and his fiancee, Sarah Milgrim, 26, outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington. US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a court filing that prosecutors will seek the death penalty for Rodriguez, who faces murder, firearms and hate crime charges.  "Rodriguez's actions were motivated by political, ideological, national, and religious bias, contempt, and hatred," Pirro said.

Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist factions systematically used sexual violence during the 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel and against hostages held in Gaza , according to an Israeli civilian-led commission 's findings. The commission, formed in November 2023, said its two-year investigation concluded that "sexual violence was repeatedly carried out in a systematic manner throughout the attack and its aftermath." Hamas has consistently denied allegations of sexual assault. The report, titled "Silenced No More," was published Tuesday by the Civil Commission on Oct. 7 Crimes by Hamas Against Women and Children , an independent panel established in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

Hundreds of Hamas terrorists accused of committing war crimes during their October 2023 attack could face the death penalty after Israel late Monday approved the creation of a special military tribunal to prosecute their cases. In a rare show of Israeli political unity, the legislation received broad backing from both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition and much of the opposition, passing with 93 votes in favor and zero against.

Post Oct 7th, 2023, first came the words of outrage followed by encouragement and sympathy. Numerous heads of state flew in to tour Gaza-adjacent Israeli communities, where 1,200 men women and children were slaughtered, raped, beheaded, and taken hostage by Hamas bloodthirsty terrorists. Then an eerie silence as Hamas supporters, extreme haters of Israel, al Jazeera and a tsunami of social media bots, flipped the script, embedding Israel as the evil doer. Their crime? Counterattacking against Hamas and its 500 km underground city of terror. UN agencies, pious international courts, special rapporteurs, human rights NGOs, BBC-led hit pieces and social media bots and influencers, demonized a traumatized Jewish nation and taught the world to spell Zionist=N-A-Z-I.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s parliament on Monday passed a law approving the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis, a measure that has been harshly condemned by the international community and rights groups as discriminatory and inhumane. The passage of the bill marked the culmination of a years-long drive by the far-right to escalate punishment for Palestinians convicted of nationalistic offenses against Israelis. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to the Knesset to vote for the bill in person. The law makes the death penalty — by hanging — the default punishment for West Bank Palestinians convicted of nationalistic killings. It also gives Israeli courts the option of imposing the death penalty on Israeli citizens convicted on similar charges — language that legal experts say effectively confines those who can be sentenced to death to Palestinian citizens of Israel and excludes Jewish citizens.

The Israeli Knesset’s National Security Committee has approved a bill that stipulates capital punishment for those convicted of fatal "terrorist acts." Key provisions include execution by hanging within 90 days and the removal of the requirement for a unanimous judicial vote. The bill faces its final parliamentary votes next week. JERUSALEM — An Israeli parliamentary committee on Tuesday cleared a controversial bill that would establish the death penalty for individuals convicted of fatal acts of terrorism, moving the legislation toward a final vote in the Knesset. The National Security Committee approved the draft following a series of heated deliberations. The bill, sponsored by MK Limor Son Har-Melech of the Otzma Yehudit party, is scheduled for its second and third readings next week. If passed, it would mark the first time Israel has established a specific framework for capital punishment for terror-related homicides. Under the proposed law, the penalty would apply to an...

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. 

Prime minister presses Itamar Ben-Gvir to amend proposed law mandating execution for terrorists, citing international and legal concerns as security agencies and opposition lawmakers push back. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to soften a proposed bill mandating the death penalty for terrorists, citing concerns over potential international fallout, officials familiar with the matter told ynet on Saturday.  Netanyahu’s aides approached Ben-Gvir, who opposes changes to the legislation, arguing that Israel cannot enact a death penalty law harsher than the standard applied in the United States. Sources said the prime minister and coalition leaders would not allow the bill to pass in its current form.

IDF said to support the law but only if sentence handed down on case-by-case basis; Smotrich reportedly pushing for it to apply to Jews who spy for Iran as well In a major shift, Shin Bet Chief David Zini has informed the government that the security agency supports a controversial bill to enact the death penalty for terrorists, according to Hebrew media reports on Friday. Zini was said to have endorsed the legislation on the agency’s behalf at a security cabinet meeting on Thursday night. According to an unnamed source cited by Channel 12, during the meeting, Zini was asked by Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem if he believed the death penalty would deter would-be terrorists, to which he replied that it would.

Israel’s parliament on Monday approved a bill in its first reading that would allow the death penalty for terrorists, a measure pushed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and aimed largely at Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis. The bill passed 39-16 and requires two more readings. A bill proposing the death penalty for terrorists passed a first reading in Israel's parliament on Monday – a measure that could apply to Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis.

Israeli parliament to vote next week on death penalty bill for Palestinian terrorists The Israeli Knesset is set to vote next week on a bill that would allow the execution of Palestinian prisoners.  The move follows pressure from Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who had threatened to withdraw his support for coalition legislation if the bill was not passed.  The announcement was made in a statement issued on Monday evening by Ofir Katz, head of the coalition in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. 

Bill to form special tribunal calls to try October 7 suspects under Israel’s genocide law, which can carry a death sentence, though decision ultimately in PM’s hands  Justice Minister Yariv Levin announced on Thursday that he is advancing legislation in the Knesset to establish a special criminal tribunal to try Gazans accused of carrying out massacres and atrocities on October 7, 2023, in a process that could result in death sentences being handed down to those convicted.

Prisoners released after Hamas frees the last 20 living hostages; among those released are dozens of high-profile terrorists sentenced to life in jail; 154 of the worst offenders deported to Egypt Israel on Monday freed nearly 2,000 Palestinians — including hundreds of terror convicts serving life terms — from its prisons as part of a deal to reach a ceasefire and release the hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip . Shortly after 20 living hostages were freed, Israel put 1,968 Palestinian prisoners on buses that departed for the West Bank and Gaza.

The vote to approve the bill for first reading went ahead despite a request from the Prime Minister's Office, according to Israel's national security minister. The Knesset National Security Committee on Sunday approved for first reading a bill that would impose the death penalty on terrorists. Committee members voted to advance the law, which was introduced by Otzma Yehudit Party Knesset member Limor Son Har-Melech, despite warnings by Israel Defense Forces Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch, coordinator for the captives and missing, that the move could endanger the hostages held by Hamas.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir insists that a bill to impose the death penalty on terrorists will “allow us to bring the hostages home,” and says he rejected a request to push off discussion of the controversial measure over concerns that it could complicate efforts to free them. Ben Gvir tells the Knesset National Security Committee, which is holding a meeting to advance the legislation, that the bill will “bring deterrence” and “advance the return of the hostages” while showing Hamas that “there is a price tag for what they did” on October 7.

Prosecutors said Elias Rodriguez, accused of killing two Israeli Embassy staff in Washington, had bought a body camera online and used it to record the attacks.    A man accused of fatally shooting two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington was wearing a body camera that captured video of the killings from his close-range perspective, prosecutors disclosed in a court filing on Friday. Elias Rodriguez purchased the body-worn camera online and arranged for it to be delivered to the hotel where he was staying in Washington before the May 21 shootings, according to the filing. Prosecutors said the transaction demonstrates the premeditated nature of the crime.

The man accused of killing two Israeli Embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington earlier this year has pleaded not guilty to an array of criminal charges.   Elias Rodriguez, 31, faces nine counts, including murder of a foreign official and carrying out a hate crime resulting in death .   Federal prosecutors say he gunned down Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, a young couple who worked for the embassy, in May following an event at the Capital Jewish Museum. 

Case could be centerpiece for showing Justice Department's strong stance on violent crime, antisemitism The U.S. Justice Department is seeking to indict the killer of Israeli embassy staff members Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim on federal hate crime charges, CNN reported.  Lischinsky and Milgrim were shot and killed at close range in May while attending an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.