عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Israel Wants to Establish Special Court for Hamas Fighters

Pictures of prisoners held by Hamas on the wall of a synagogue in Berlin on Friday (EPA)
Pictures of prisoners held by Hamas on the wall of a synagogue in Berlin on Friday (EPA)
TT
TT

Israel Wants to Establish Special Court for Hamas Fighters

Pictures of prisoners held by Hamas on the wall of a synagogue in Berlin on Friday (EPA)
Pictures of prisoners held by Hamas on the wall of a synagogue in Berlin on Friday (EPA)

Israel is planning to form a special tribunal panel to oversee the cases of detained Hamas fighters who participated in the Oct. 7 attack.

The Israeli public broadcaster, Kan, said that the government's legal advisor, the attorney's office, the court administration, and the public defender's office are all in agreement that regular criminal law isn't the correct avenue to try those who took part in Hamas's Oct. 7 attack.

Israel arrested about 200 Hamas fighters after nearly 3,000 members stormed the Gaza Strip, leaving more than 1,400 Israelis dead and 2,500 wounded, in addition to about 250 hostages.

Israeli media said that in addition to the 200 detained fighters, others had been arrested from Gaza during the ground operation, without it being clear how many there were and whether they were fighters or civilians.

Discussions between legal bodies about how to prosecute Hamas fighters are ongoing.

However, officials are moving to develop special legislation that would allow the establishment of a special tribunal, whose sessions will be broadcast live, to present a historic legal case against Hamas.

The Israeli Ministry of Justice refused to confirm or deny the report.

On Oct. 24, Energy Minister Israel Katz proposed another method through which the fighters could be brought to trial and then executed.

Katz requested approval to establish a court that would operate under Israeli law to prosecute Nazis and their collaborators.

Israeli law does not allow the death penalty except against Nazis or their collaborators.

Katz said that expanding the law to include Hamas militants would allow them to be executed.

The Minister posted on the X platform that he contacted the Minister of Justice, Yariv Levin, to establish a special military court that applies the law of crimes of Nazis and their aides to Hamas.

He added: "Death sentences will be imposed on those involved in the attack on the State of Israel on Oct. 7."

"The acts of these vile Hamas wretches, who cut off heads and limbs, tortured, burned, raped are no less severe than those of the Nazis," Katz wrote, adding that he didn't consider extending the law to include the Oct. 7 terrorists to be overreach.

It is not the first time that ministers and officials, including Katz himself, have called for the execution of Palestinian prisoners, but it is the first time that officials have proposed applying the Nazi Law.

Currently, there are about 7,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, including 2,000 who were arrested after the al-Aqsa Flood, while Hamas has about 250 Israeli prisoners.

Hamas proposed an "all for all" deal that included the release of all Israelis in exchange for freeing all Palestinian prisoners. It also said it would agree to partial agreements.

Hamas chief in Gaza Yahya Sinwar announced last Saturday that they are ready for an "immediate" exchange deal that includes the release of all Palestinian prisoners in "occupation prisons" in exchange for the release of all "Israeli prisoners held by the resistance."

Sinwar called on the bodies and organizations concerned with prisoners' affairs to consider that they were in permanent session and prepare lists of male and female prisoners held by the occupation ahead of the next stage.

In response, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari described Hamas' willingness to release the prisoners as "psychological terrorism" aiming to pressure Israel.

Israel is trying to liberate its prisoners through the ground operation without striking a deal with Hamas.

Tel Aviv aims to end Hamas, not negotiate with the movement. If Hamas succeeds in concluding a deal, its fighters will be among the released.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Plans for Post-War Gaza Face Challenges on the Ground

11 July 2026, Palestinian Territories, Nuseirat: A vehicle damaged in an Israeli strike is seen at the scene in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, where a Palestinian was killed and others were wounded. (dpa)
11 July 2026, Palestinian Territories, Nuseirat: A vehicle damaged in an Israeli strike is seen at the scene in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, where a Palestinian was killed and others were wounded. (dpa)
TT
TT

Plans for Post-War Gaza Face Challenges on the Ground

11 July 2026, Palestinian Territories, Nuseirat: A vehicle damaged in an Israeli strike is seen at the scene in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, where a Palestinian was killed and others were wounded. (dpa)
11 July 2026, Palestinian Territories, Nuseirat: A vehicle damaged in an Israeli strike is seen at the scene in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, where a Palestinian was killed and others were wounded. (dpa)

In spite of the ongoing risk of renewed fighting in Gaza, stakeholders have spent months preparing for the post-war phase.

Plans for governance, security and humanitarian relief have begun to take shape, but remain largely theoretical in the absence of a political agreement, credible security guarantees and sustained funding.

Below are some of the key challenges facing local and international players as they seek to rebuild the devastated territory home to more than two million Palestinians.

- Security concerns -

Security remains the cornerstone of every post-war scenario under discussion.

Israel insists Hamas must disarm before any progress can be made, while the Palestinian movement refuses to surrender its weapons before Israeli troops withdraw and a Palestinian governing authority is established.

However, an official from the Board of Peace established by US President Donald Trump to help prepare for post-war Gaza told AFP that Hamas's disarmament was no longer being treated as a precondition for advancing plans on the ground.

"The entire planning is around worst case scenario," he said, referring to a planned pilot "humanitarian zone" in Rafah, in the south.

"We get nothing in the negotiation, but we move forward anyhow."

Among the proposals is an International Stabilization Force (ISF) tasked with helping maintain order in Gaza.

According to the same source, four countries -- Morocco, Kosovo, Albania and Kazakhstan -- are "really engaged" in the initiative.

A logistical base on the Israeli side of the Kerem Shalom crossing is "close to complete" and would be able to host an initial rotation of around 500 troops before any deployment into Gaza, the official said.

Preparations are also continuing for a Palestinian police force, with around 20,000 applications already received, the official added.

But several diplomats and security sources interviewed by AFP described a process that remains deadlocked.

According to one diplomatic source, training has yet to begin and Israel has rejected the current list of recruits following its vetting process, arguing in particular that a proposed force of 5,000 police officers would be too large for Gaza.

Despite a ceasefire in place since October 2025, daily violence grips the territory as Israeli strikes continue targeting what the military says are violations of the truce by fighters from Hamas and other Palestinian groups.

- Little reconstruction -

The humanitarian needs of Gaza remain overwhelming.

The United Nations estimates reconstruction will take years and require tens of billions of dollars, as construction materials and debris-clearing equipment remain in critically short supply.

Despite substantial donor pledges, much of the expected funding has yet to be disbursed, according to the Board of Peace.

"We're working with an amount that for now meets our needs," the board official said, adding that if several humanitarian zones have to be established then "we obviously need more funding".

The board is currently planning a pilot humanitarian zone in Rafah which would accommodate tens of thousands of vetted Palestinians, the official said earlier this week.

- No governing institutions -

Hamas announced recently it intends to hand over administrative responsibilities to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), a body set up by the Board of Peace comprising Palestinian technocrats tasked with overseeing day-to-day governance during a transitional period.

But the NCAG has still not even managed to enter Gaza, with several Palestinian and diplomatic sources saying Israel has barred the committee from entering.

For Israel, dismantling Hamas's administrative apparatus falls short of its longstanding demand that the group disarm.

The future role of the Palestinian Authority (PA) also remains unresolved.

Based in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank -- a separate Palestinian territory from the Gaza Strip -- the PA remains the international community's officially recognized Palestinian interlocutor.

The NCAG is intended as a temporary body implementing basic services across the strip, with European officials expecting it to work in coordination with the PA.

Several observers, however, warn that the result could be an administration responsible for delivering public services but lacking authority over security forces or border crossings -- leaving it dependent on its international backers while remaining vulnerable to Hamas should the group retain all or part of its military arsenal.

Arab World

US Delegation in Lebanon to Discuss Israel ‘Pilot Zone’ Withdrawal, Says Official

A vehicle that was reportedly damaged by an Israeli strike is pictured in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Rumman on July 10, 2026. (AFP)
A vehicle that was reportedly damaged by an Israeli strike is pictured in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Rumman on July 10, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT

US Delegation in Lebanon to Discuss Israel ‘Pilot Zone’ Withdrawal, Says Official

A vehicle that was reportedly damaged by an Israeli strike is pictured in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Rumman on July 10, 2026. (AFP)
A vehicle that was reportedly damaged by an Israeli strike is pictured in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Rumman on July 10, 2026. (AFP)

A US military delegation met with Lebanon's army in Beirut to discuss the implementation of Israel's withdrawal from a "pilot zone" in occupied territory, a Lebanese military official told AFP on Saturday.

Under a framework agreement reached on June 26, Israel will gradually withdraw from areas of southern Lebanon where it has deployed troops to fight the Iran-backed Hezbollah party.

As part of the agreement, the long-disempowered Lebanese military will take full control of two small areas dubbed pilot zones.

"The American military delegation arrived and began meetings with the Lebanese army command to discuss the mechanisms for implementing the first pilot zone from which the Israelis will withdraw, allowing the Lebanese army to deploy," the official said, requesting anonymity.

"This is the main objective the American military delegation is bringing to Lebanon... it is the translation and implementation of the framework agreement."

US Ambassador Michel Issa told President Joseph Aoun on Thursday that the American delegation was coming to "determine the mechanism" for the deal's implementation.

In Washington, a US official had said on condition of anonymity that "the first pilot zone will launch in a matter of days, and further pilot zones are being mapped out and planned".

US Central Command will coordinate on the zones with both countries, he said.

The agreement -- rejected by Hezbollah -- does not set a timetable for Israel's withdrawal, and Israeli officials have also vowed that their forces will remain in a "security zone" 10 kilometers (six miles) deep as long as Hezbollah remains armed.

The war, which began in early March when Hezbollah entered the wider Middle East conflict on the side of its backer Iran, displaced more than a million people in Lebanon, according to the UN's humanitarian agency OCHA.

On Saturday, the agency said more than 732,000 people had now returned home, up from 640,000 a week before.

That leaves more than 430,000 still displaced, it added.

Israel has pursued intermittent strikes despite a truce in its war with Hezbollah, with Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reporting several in the south on Saturday.

The latest talks between Lebanon and Israel, which have no formal relations but have met for five rounds of negotiations since the start of the war, will take place in Rome next Wednesday and Thursday.

Lebanon conditions its participation on Israel withdrawing from two pilot zones.

The talks precede Aoun's expected visit to Washington later this month at the invitation of his American counterpart Donald Trump.

Arab World

Iraqis Protest Over Power Cuts in Sweltering Summer Heat

Demonstrators gather as they take part in a protest over unemployment, corruption and poor public services, in Baghdad, Iraq October 2, 2019. (Reuters)
Demonstrators gather as they take part in a protest over unemployment, corruption and poor public services, in Baghdad, Iraq October 2, 2019. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Iraqis Protest Over Power Cuts in Sweltering Summer Heat

Demonstrators gather as they take part in a protest over unemployment, corruption and poor public services, in Baghdad, Iraq October 2, 2019. (Reuters)
Demonstrators gather as they take part in a protest over unemployment, corruption and poor public services, in Baghdad, Iraq October 2, 2019. (Reuters)

Hundreds of residents of an eastern Iraqi city protested on Saturday against power cuts during extreme summer heat, an AFP correspondent said.

Temperatures in the city of Kut have peaked at 44C, with residents organizing protests to urge authorities to boost electricity supply.

Decades of war have left Iraq's infrastructure in a pitiful state, with power failures worsening blistering summers.

On Friday night, hundreds of protesters took to the streets with dozens hurling stones at security forces, who responded by firing tear gas and detaining more than 30 people, according to an AFP correspondent.

The clashes lasted until early morning.

Two local health officials told AFP on condition of anonymity that more than 50 police officers were injured.

It is unclear how many protesters were wounded, with one source estimating the number at around 30.

Protesters have likely avoided reporting themselves to hospital for fear of arrest, a health official said.

Demonstrations against power cuts are frequent in Iraq, especially during the scorching summer months, when temperatures often reach 50C.

In the oil-rich country, many households have just a few hours of state electricity per day, and those who can afford it use private generators to keep fridges and air conditioners running.

Iraq is the second-largest oil producer in the OPEC cartel, but despite its immense oil and gas reserves, it remains dependent on imports to meet its electricity needs.