Jerusalem, 12 May (LaPresse/AP) – The Israeli Parliament has passed a bill establishing a special court with the authority to impose the death penalty on Palestinians found guilty of taking part in the 7 October 2023 attack led by Hamas that sparked the war in Gaza. The measure was approved by the Knesset with 93 votes in favour and none against. The Parliament has 120 seats; the remaining 27 MPs were absent or abstained from the vote. Human rights groups have criticised the measure, arguing that it makes it too easy to impose the death penalty whilst simultaneously removing safeguards for the right to a fair trial. Defendants may appeal against the sentence, but appeals must be heard by a special, separate Court of Appeal, rather than by the standard Courts of Appeal. As the bill grants a panel of judges the power to impose the death penalty by majority vote, and requires trials to take place in a Jerusalem courtroom broadcast via live stream, it has been compared to the 1962 trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, which was broadcast live on television. Eichmann was executed by hanging, the last time the death penalty was carried out in Israel, although technically capital punishment remains in force for acts of genocide, wartime espionage and certain terrorist offences. Opponents of the bill also argue that live-streaming proceedings before guilt has been established risks turning trials into a spectacle, and have raised doubts about the reliability of evidence that might be presented, claiming it may have been extracted through violent interrogation methods.