Will Israel pursue the death penalty for Oct. 7 terrorists?

Gazan terrorists who committed atrocities on October 7, 2023, likely to be the first in decades to face Israel’s death penalty.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Terrorists who invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, and committed mass slaughters and rapes in communities adjacent to the Gaza Strip will likely face the death penalty, according to legal experts.

Some 300 terrorists believed to have participated in the massacres are currently detained in Israeli jails, as Israel’s prosecution faces criticism for repeatedly delaying their trials.

In April, Israeli prosecutors announced that they were finally prepared to file charges against 22 terrorists who committed atrocities in Kibbutz Nir Oz, some 18 months after the massacres.

The move was reportedly spurned by pressure from the U.S., as American prosecutors had said they were ready to extradite and charge terrorists responsible for the slayings of American nationals.

Several legal experts are speaking out about the potential sentences for the terrorists, saying that the death penalty is on the table.

While the death penalty is legal in Israel, it has been implemented on one occasion only. After a high-profile trial, Israel hung senior Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in 1962.

“The death penalty may seem like a crazy scenario to contemplate, but it is very possible,” Maurice Hirsch, director of the Initiative for Palestinian Authority Accountability and Reform in the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, told British outlet The Sun.

“They should be subject to the death penalty, but it will depend on whether Israel will be able to withstand international pressure,” he said.

Former Israeli military prosecutor Alan Baker echoed Hirsch’s sentiments, saying that the only impediment to carrying out the death penalty against October 7 terrorists was concern about international backlash.

“In these particular cases, because of the cruel nature of these atrocities, I don’t think the sensitivity of what the world will think will be considered, as there is now the feeling that the rest of the world inevitably hate us whatever we do,” Baker told The Sun.

Baker said he would tell Israeli prosecutors “not to take into consideration what the French government, the British, etc. will say because inevitably, whatever we do, whether we keep them in prison or we hang them, Israel will be condemned anyway.”

The legal expert added that he trusts that Israeli authorities “will do what they need to do, without looking at any external consideration. That is the last thing that should enter into the equation.”

Death penaltyGazahamas terrorismHamas terroristsKibbutz Nir OzOctober 7thOctober 7th massacre