Jerusalem, 16 october, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Justice Minister Yariv Levin on Wednesday introduced legislation to the Knesset that would create a special criminal tribunal to try Gazans accused of carrying out massacres and atrocities during the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. The tribunal, Levin says, could hand down death sentences to those convicted.
Under the proposed law, the panel would consist of 15 judges, either qualified for Israel’s Supreme Court or international jurists selected by the justice minister in consultation with the foreign minister. It would have jurisdiction over Gazans captured in Israel from October 7 to October 14, suspected of being Hamas operatives, numbering in the hundreds. Cases would be prosecuted under Israel’s 1950 Law for the Prevention of Genocide, which implements the 1948 Genocide Convention.
While the death penalty could be sought, its approval would rest with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in consultation with senior security officials. Levin supports capital punishment for such crimes, and the indictments have been drafted to allow for sentences of death.
Levin emphasized that since the Hamas invasion, the State Attorney’s Office, police, and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) have conducted “unprecedented staff work” on the detainees, gathering “thousands of hours of video” and testimony documenting the atrocities. “Immediately after the massacre, a special team was established, which conducted a comprehensive investigation of the arrested Nukhba terrorists,” Levin said. “Thus, the investigation files and various charges were prepared, all existing evidence was gathered, and several possible tracks were prepared for their prosecution and the full extent of the law against them.”
The minister added that draft indictments have been formulated, but the scale of the crimes and number of suspects required legislative adjustments. “During the staff work and Knesset hearings, the need arose to make several legislative amendments to ensure that the legal process would be conducted efficiently and that justice would be done and seen,” he said.
Levin’s statement was issued jointly with Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee Chair Simcha Rothman and committee member MK Yulia Malinovsky of the Yisrael Beytenu opposition party. “Now, with the return of the abductees alive, we have agreed to bring the joint bill to the coalition and the opposition for first reading as soon as possible, and to advance the legislation quickly, with the common goal of bringing the Nukhba terrorists to justice as soon as possible,” the statement read.
Levin framed the bill as a necessary step to handle the “unprecedented volumes of evidence” collected and ensure that the perpetrators face accountability. He stressed that the legislation is designed not only to prosecute the terrorists efficiently but also to demonstrate to the public that justice is being served for the scale and brutality of the October 7 attacks.
The only individual ever executed by Israel was Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi architect of the Holocaust. He was hanged in 1962, and his ashes were scattered at sea after he was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity.
An Israeli court sentenced John Demjanjuk to death in 1988 for crimes against humanity while working at various concentration camps. However, Israel’s Supreme Court overturned the sentence in 1993. Israel eventually extradited Demjanjuk, who was later convicted in Germany as an accessory to the murder of more than 28,000 Jews at the Sobibor death camp. Demjanjuk died in Germany while appealing that conviction.
Around 1,200 people were killed and 252 Israelis and foreigners were abducted on October 7, 2023. The bodies of 21 more hostages remain in Gaza.
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