Israel passes law to establish special tribunal for suspects of Oct. 7 Hamas attack

Israel's parliament on Monday approved a law to establish a special military tribunal for Palestinians suspected of involvement in the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023.

The tribunal is authorized to impose the death penalty, a sentence that has not been carried out in Israel since 1962.

The law has drawn widespread criticism from rights groups. "The bill denies suspects the basic procedural protections essential to a fair trial," Adalah, a legal group for Arab minority rights in Israel, said in a statement.

It added that any resulting death sentence would constitute "an arbitrary deprivation of life, absolutely prohibited under international law and potentially a war crime."

The new law follows a legislation approved in late March that made the death penalty a default punishment for Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks.

The Oct. 7 attack killed about 1,200 people in Israel, with over 250 hostages kidnapped, according to Israeli figures. It triggered the massive Israeli military operation across Gaza that left the Palestinian enclave in ruins and killed at least 72,737 people, according to Gaza-based health authorities.