Israel passes law to allow death penalty and public trials for those linked to 7 October

The Israeli parliament, known as the Knesset, passed a law on May 12, 2026, permitting the death penalty and the use of public trials for individuals involved in the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023.

The legislation was passed with a vote of 93 to 0. In an unusual move, the bill was jointly sponsored by politicians from both the government and the opposition. Twenty-seven lawmakers were either absent or abstained from the vote.

Yulia Malinovsky, a co-sponsor of the bill, spoke at a news conference prior to the parliamentary vote regarding the intent of the legislation.

“May everyone see how the victims and their families look into the whites of the eyes of those murderers, rapists and kidnappers,” Malinovsky said. “May everyone see how the State of Israel is a sovereign state which knows how to hold those who harmed it to account. We have reached the finish line, which is actually the starting line: the beginning of historic trials, which the whole world will see.”

Israeli human rights organizations have voiced opposition to the new law. These groups cited a general opposition to the principle of capital punishment and warned that the legislation could lead to show trials based on confessions allegedly extracted under torture.

The law specifically targets those linked to the events of October 7, 2023, which is recorded as the deadliest day in the history of Israel. During those attacks, Hamas-led fighters killed more than 1,200 people in southern Israel, the majority of whom were civilians. 251 people, including children, women, men, and foreign nationals, were kidnapped and held in captivity in the Gaza Strip.

These attacks triggered a war in Gaza that has resulted in 72,740 deaths to date, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, which stated that the majority of the deceased are women, children, and the elderly.

In addition to the death penalty and public trial provisions, the Knesset passed a law establishing a military tribunal to try the perpetrators of the October 7 attacks.

The current legislation follows a separate law passed by the Israeli parliament in March known as the Death Penalty for Terrorists Law. That law was aimed at Palestinians convicted of terrorism offences, but it does not apply retroactively to previous events.