Israel approves the law on public crimes, the death penalty for those arrested on October 7 | Israel-Palestine War News

Rights groups warn that the law makes the death penalty easier to carry out and removes the protection of justice.

Israeli lawmakers have approved a bill to establish a special court with the power to impose the death penalty on Palestinians accused of participating in terrorist attacks led by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

The bill passed 93-0 in Israel’s 120-seat parliament, the Knesset, on Monday.

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The remaining 27 MPs were absent or did not vote.

Israeli and Palestinian rights groups warning that the bill it will make the death penalty easier to impose and eliminate due process protections.

Muna Haddad, a lawyer at Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, told Al Jazeera that the law deliberately lowers legal protections for a fair trial in order to protect the Palestinian majority.

“The bill allows for many cases to go against the law, including a larger jury to admit evidence obtained under circumstances that could be torture or torture,” Haddad said.

“This is a serious violation of the criminal justice system that fails to meet international law.”

In a departure from Israel’s popular court system, which generally bans courtroom cameras, the bill mandates the recording and public broadcasting of important court moments on a dedicated website.

This includes the opening of cases, judgments and sentences.

Haddad warned that the law “changes the situation in order to show the freedom of the accused”.

“The public assembly law … violates the presumption of innocence, the right to a fair trial, and the right to dignity,” Haddad said. “This policy considers the offense to be a conviction, before the proceedings are commenced.”

Israel has been holding approximately 200-300 Palestinians, including those captured in the country during the October 7 attacks, who have not been charged.

A Hamas-led attack on Israeli forces along Israel’s southern border with Gaza killed at least 1,139 people, mostly civilians, according to an Al Jazeera investigation based on Israeli figures. About 240 other people were taken as slaves.

Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza has killed at least 72,628 Palestinians, including at least 846 since the United States’ “ceasefire” went into effect last October.

The war, which United Nations experts say could kill many people, has left Palestine in ruins.

Several Israeli rights groups – including Hamoked, Adalah and the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel – said on Monday that although “justice for the victims of October 7 is important and very important”, any response to the crimes “must be pursued through a process that includes and does not abandon the principles of justice”.

The law is separate from a law passed in March that authorized the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis, which has been harshly criticized by international and rights groups as racist and cruel.

The law applies to future cases and is not retroactive, so it will not apply to those suspected in October 2023.

Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said the new law “serves as a cover for the war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza”.

The International Criminal Court is investigating Israel’s handling of the Gaza war and has issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as three Hamas leaders who were killed by Israel.

Israel is also fighting a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.

It denies the allegations.