Death Penalty May Await Dozens of Oct 7 Terrorists

Jerusalem, 3 May, 2025 (TPS-IL) -- Hamas members soon to be charged with some of the most barbaric crimes from the October 7 massacre, could be likely to receive the death penalty, prosecutors say.

Israeli intelligence scoured piles of evidence since the start of the war, putting together a compelling case to charge multiple terrorists who pillaged, raped, tortured, burnt down homes, and murdered innocent Israelis.

In recent months, mountains more evidence was found on laptops seized during military operations in the Gaza strip, allowing authorities to compile a strong case for trial.

Currently, 22 Hamas members are set to be charged, all of whom attacked Kibbutz Nir Oz – one of the worst affected sites, and where the Bibas family were taken from their home.

Mother Shiri, 32, and babies Ariel, 3, and Kfir, 10 were later murdered in captivity in Gaza.

Now, Israel’s leading prosecutors believe that due to the horror of the brutal acts, as well as the fact that Israel is no longer concerned by international pressure in dealing with these matters, the murderers could likely to be hanged.

If so, it will be the first time the country has executed anyone since the only time it did so in 1962, when Adolf Eichmann, a key architect of the Nazi Final Solution, was hanged.

Ambassador (Ret’), Attorney Alan Baker who has been a military prosecutor and a judge on scores of high profile terrorists cases spoke exclusively to The Press Service of Israel.

“About 30 years ago, I was the prosecutor on the trial of a particularly nasty and cruel terrorist, and I managed to get him convicted with the death penalty,” said Baker, the former legal adviser to Israel’s Foreign Office, former Israeli ambassador to Canada, presently heading the international law program at the Jerusalem Center for Foreign and Security Affairs.

“It wasn’t carried out at the time, because of a theory that it could encourage terrorists to do more horrific acts, if they feel like they are going to die anyway,” he explained.

“There is of course, also always the concern of what the international community think too. In these particular cases, because of the cruel nature of these atrocities, I don’t think the sensitivity of what 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 TPS-IL.

“We are still as hated as we were eighty years ago. These people not only crossed the border illegally, but there are thousands of residents of Gaza who tagged along, who stole whatever they liked, televisions, etc. and set fire to houses.

“There is a vast array of offenses that have been committed, including the heavy stuff, rape and murders, and these crimes against humanity will have to be dealt with very seriously.”

He went on to say he would advise the prosecuting team: “I would tell them to take the seriousness of these criminals into consideration.

“They committed these crimes in Israel, they invaded, they, committed offences according to Israeli law, and this will have to be overseen by Israeli judges.

“I would tell them not to take into consideration what the Pope, 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.

“I trust they will do what they need to do, without looking at any external consideration. That is the last thing that should enter into the equation.”

Maurice Hirsch, Director of the Initiative for Palestinian Authority Accountability and Reform in the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and a Senior Legal Analyst at Human Rights Voices, explained how the complexity of Israel’s legal system means the cases could go in many directions.

However, because these are the most horrific acts since the Holocaust, the death penalty upon conviction is the most likely outcome.

He said: “The death penalty may seem like a crazy scenario to contemplate, but it is very possible. They should be subject to the death penalty, but it will depend on whether Israel will be able to withstand international pressure.

“There is a question of which crimes we prosecute for. If there is no specific once victim, and as they [the terrorists] don’t even know who they’ve murdered, that could make things challenging.

“Where, when were they arrested? We can see if any of them can be linked to direct crimes. Fogs are still uncovering, but the country will do well if we can clear this up.

“It would be convenient if we could isolate 22 cases, but if I was a defense lawyer, I would ask for the evidence of mass murder.”

Other lawyers reiterated Baker and Hirsch’s opinion that the death penalty is a likely outcome.

As well as the 22 set for indictment, more than 300 more terrorists who took part in the October 7 attacks are currently being held in Israeli prisons.

At least 1,180 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 59 remaining hostages, 36 are believed to be dead.