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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)
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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.

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Arab World

Death Journey from Kordofan Ends in Hunger in Omdurman

A displaced woman from Dalanj braids her grandmother's hair at a displacement registration center in El Obeid, North Kordofan State, Sudan, January 15, 2026. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
A displaced woman from Dalanj braids her grandmother's hair at a displacement registration center in El Obeid, North Kordofan State, Sudan, January 15, 2026. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
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Death Journey from Kordofan Ends in Hunger in Omdurman

A displaced woman from Dalanj braids her grandmother's hair at a displacement registration center in El Obeid, North Kordofan State, Sudan, January 15, 2026. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
A displaced woman from Dalanj braids her grandmother's hair at a displacement registration center in El Obeid, North Kordofan State, Sudan, January 15, 2026. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig

A long journey marked by fear, hunger and thirst has been undertaken by large numbers of Sudanese families fleeing cities and towns in North Kordofan state, where fighting has flared again, for Omdurman, the second-largest city in the capital Khartoum.

Families that have lost children, relatives, and perhaps all their possessions have been forced to leave their homes and take difficult routes through mountains and valleys. Some have travelled on foot, while others have relied on animal-drawn carts or trucks. Others have become stranded before reaching safety.

Reports by local and international aid organizations said hundreds of families — with some estimates putting the number at more than 3,000 — have been displaced in recent weeks following a resurgence of military operations in parts of North Kordofan, amid what the reports described as “dire humanitarian conditions”.

After weeks of hardship, the families reached the far western outskirts of Omdurman “hungry and exhausted,” carrying what remained of their belongings and memories of the homes they had left behind.

Others had lost family members along the arduous journey. But reaching Omdurman did not end their ordeal. Displaced families face shortages of food and drinking water and a lack of humanitarian assistance, while cases of diarrhea, fever and infections are spreading among children, turning their escape from the war into an open-ended ordeal with no clear end in sight.

The Arduous Journey

The Sudanese Armed Forces and allied forces are seeking to expand their control in North Kordofan and secure the area around the state capital, El Obeid, while large numbers of the Rapid Support Forces are positioned west and south of the city.

Halima Dhow al-Bait said she fled with her family of nine from the Al-Jamama area of Sodari locality in North Kordofan after they were forced to leave their home at gunpoint.

Her journey took several days aboard cargo trucks and was arduous and exhausting, while some residents and neighbors became stranded in the mountains and among the trees.

“We arrived in Omdurman in a state of extreme exhaustion,” the Sudanese woman told Asharq Al-Awsat. “During the first few days, we received some food supplies, including oil, sugar and flour, but those supplies later stopped.”

Another displaced woman said: “During the journey, three of my children fell ill because of hunger, thirst and the hardships of the road.”

“We left our homes, our property and everything we owned. We left with nothing but the clothes we were wearing,” she said. “Our situation is now extremely difficult, and we are receiving no humanitarian assistance.”

“We saw death with our own eyes”

Sudan’s humanitarian crisis has deepened as a result of the war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces, which has continued since April 2023, killing hundreds of thousands of people and displacing about 13 million others as refugees and internally displaced people, according to UN estimates.

Sayedah Khamis, a displaced woman from the town of Al-Jamama, recounted the details of her arduous journey.

“Our journey took about 13 days. At times we travelled on foot, and at others in donkey-drawn carts,” she said.

“We left because of the deteriorating security situation, violations and the looting of civilians’ property,” she added.

The displaced woman described the hardship of the journey and the harsh conditions her family endured throughout those days.

A New Reality

Renewed fighting in Sudan’s Kordofan region has displaced hundreds of families to El Obeid, Khartoum, Kosti and Omdurman. The crisis has also displaced about 200,000 people in North Darfur and a similar number in Blue Nile state.

Mohamed Ali, who was also displaced from Abu Hadid, said armed conflict forced his family to leave the area. They traveled for about two weeks through mountains and valleys, using different forms of transport and sometimes sleeping outdoors in harsh conditions amid insects and disease.

He said they lost several family members along the way and now urgently need food and clean drinking water, particularly as flies have contributed to illnesses among children.

Although the families’ displacement journey to Omdurman may have ended, their hardship continues. They have lost homes, property and relatives, and now face a daily struggle for food, water and healthcare. Their hope of returning home remains on hold until the violence ends, turning their escape from war into an ongoing fight for survival.

Arab World

Official Leading Trump's Gaza Ceasefire Effort Criticizes Israel for Its Attacks

Peace Council High Representative Nikolay Mladenov (Reuters)
Peace Council High Representative Nikolay Mladenov (Reuters)
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Official Leading Trump's Gaza Ceasefire Effort Criticizes Israel for Its Attacks

Peace Council High Representative Nikolay Mladenov (Reuters)
Peace Council High Representative Nikolay Mladenov (Reuters)

The official in charge of President Donald Trump's ceasefire plan for Gaza criticized Israel on Wednesday for its attacks on the war-battered Palestinian territory and warned that the alternative to the US proposal is the next war, The Associated Press said.

Nikolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace high representative, insisted to the UN Security Council that Trump's 20-point plan has not stalled and “has moved from the negotiating table to the engineering table.”

The group Hamas has agreed to the proposal’s key provision to disarm and turn Gaza over to civilian rule, he said. But Israel’s ongoing strikes since last October’s ceasefire are still killing Palestinians — though much fewer — and Gazans can’t feel that the conflict is ending, he said.

“After three years of war and 20 years of military operations, I ask, will another strike on a munitions depot stop Hamas from rearming or tightening its grip on Gaza?" Mladenov said. “It will not. It only delays the demilitarization that would happen” and obstructs the transfer to a civilian government.

A recent US deal with Hamas to disarm was seen as a potential breakthrough to end the war, which was sparked by the militant group’s deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in southern Israel. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his forces won’t withdraw from their current lines in Gaza until Hamas has handed over all its weapons.

Mladenov said that at a meeting he took part in last week with Netanyahu and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, “we went through his government’s concerns one by one and narrowed the areas that still require technical work.”

Israel’s deputy UN ambassador, Noa Furman, reiterated to the Security Council his country’s commitment to Trump’s plan, but stressed that it can’t succeed while Hamas remains armed. He said Israel is working closely with the US to achieve Hamas’ disarmament.

The US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, said concerns about Trump's plan are being addressed and Hamas' disarmament will be judged on its actions.

Mladenov warned of the distance between the roadmap and what’s happening on the ground, and said if war resumes, there won’t be a roadmap to return to or anything left on the ground to rebuild.

“That would not be a setback,” he said. “it would be a point of no return for everyone.”

Mladenov stressed the need for political will to overcome the differences and said there is a choice to be made: “A Gaza disarmed, rebuilt and reconnected to the world. Or a Gaza rearmed, divided and in rubble, with a radicalized generation raised inside it and the next war already on the horizon."

As for the Palestinians, Mladenov said, the Trump plan includes a “credible pathway to a political horizon" and a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict. Netanyahu vehemently opposes a Palestinian state.

Arab World

Israel Considers Expelling British Officials from Post-war Gaza Headquarters, FT Reports

Palestinians look at a food-aid warehouse damaged in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a nearby house in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians look at a food-aid warehouse damaged in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a nearby house in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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Israel Considers Expelling British Officials from Post-war Gaza Headquarters, FT Reports

Palestinians look at a food-aid warehouse damaged in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a nearby house in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians look at a food-aid warehouse damaged in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a nearby house in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israel is considering expelling British, and possibly other European officials, from the US-led coordination center for ‌post-war Gaza, ‌the Financial ‌Times reported ⁠on Thursday.

The Israeli ⁠government in recent weeks has discussed removing the UK ⁠from the ‌International ‌Gaza Support ‌Center, the multinational ‌headquarters established to monitor the US-brokered ceasefire between ‌Israel and Hamas, the newspaper said, ⁠citing ⁠people familiar with the matter.

Reuters could not immediately verify the FT report.