Netanyahu Approves Bill to Try Palestinian Prisoners Who Participated in October 7 Attack

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given the green light to a bill that allows the trial of Palestinian prisoners accused by Tel Aviv of participating in the October 7, 2023 attack.

The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported on Thursday that Netanyahu "gave the green light to a bill presented by Knesset members Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionism) and Yulia Malinovsky (Israel Our Home), which allows the trial of detained Palestinians who carried out the October 7 attacks".

It noted that "Netanyahu thereby rejected the request of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to include them in the death penalty law he is promoting".

It added: "The bill is expected to be voted on in its first reading next week".

It further stated: "The law will also apply to those who held hostages (Israeli prisoners) in Gaza".

It explained that the trial will take place before a military court established for this purpose, authorized to try what it calls "crimes of genocide, violation of state sovereignty, incitement to war, and aiding the enemy, which are punishable by death".

Any bill must be voted on in three readings before becoming an effective law.

Israel has not disclosed the number of Palestinian prisoners it accuses of participating in the October 7, 2023 attack.

However, "Yedioth Ahronoth" indicated that the talk is of more than 300 detainees.

It is recalled that on October 7, 2023, "Hamas" attacked military bases and settlements adjacent to the Gaza Strip, killing and capturing Israelis, in response to "the daily crimes of the occupation against the Palestinian people and its sanctities, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque", according to the movement.

Since then, Israel, with American support, has waged a war of extermination in Gaza that has left more than 70,000 dead and over 171,000 injured, mostly children and women, and caused massive destruction, with the United Nations estimating the cost of reconstruction at around $70 billion.