Relatives of Gaza hostages say stop talk of execution for Hamas detainees

[November 20, 2023]  By Dan Williams

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Relatives of some of the 240 people held by Hamas in Gaza urged far-right Israeli lawmakers on Monday not to pursue proposed capital punishment for captured Palestinian militants, saying that even talk of doing so might endanger the hostages.

A number of suspected gunmen were detained after members of the armed Islamist faction breached the Gaza Strip border on Oct. 7 and went on the rampage, killing over 1,200 people and kidnapping others, Israel said.

Israel's Justice Ministry said on Nov. 7 that a task force was discussing how to try the Palestinians who had been detained and secure "punishments befitting the severity of the horrors committed" for those convicted.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has called for the death penalty, which is dormant on Israel's law books.

Some of the relatives of the people held captive by Hamas in Gaza worry the publicity around the capital punishment debate could invite reprisals even as hopes of a deal to free some of them is growing.

The hostages have already been threatened with execution by Hamas and are at risk of being hurt or killed in the military offensive launched by Israel in response to the Oct 7 attack.

"It would mean playing along with their mind games. And in return we would get pictures of our loves ones murdered, ended, with the State of Israel and not them (Hamas) being blamed for it," Yarden Gonen, whose sister Romi is among the hostages, told Ben-Gvir and his party colleagues during a parliamentary panel.

"Don't pursue this until after they are back here," she said. "Don't put my sister's blood on your hands."

A screen grab of a video released by the Israeli army on November 19, 2023 shows security camera footage of what they say were the Islamic militants of Hamas bringing in a hostage from Israel into the Shifa hospital on the day of the October 7 attack. Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS

"CONFUSED PRIORITIES"

The only court-ordered execution in Israel was of convicted Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in 1962. Israeli military courts, which often handle cases involving Palestinians, have the power to hand down the death penalty by a unanimous decision of three judges, although this has never been implemented.

Hawkish politicians have, over the years, proposed easing terms for such sentencing, saying executions deter terrorism.

Doing this was "more critical now than ever," Ben-Gvir said, "first of all, for the sake of those murdered and who fell in the line of duty and, no less, so that there will be no more people kidnapped".

His proposal has moved slowly in parliament. The conservative Likud party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shown little interest in advancing it during its long rule.

Linor Dan-Calderon, three of whose relatives are hostages, accused Ben-Gvir's party of having "confused priorities".

"You've gotten mixed up, because we are a nation that pursues life, not one that pursues revenge - even if, in the past, we did something to Eichmann," she said. "I am simply asking you to drop this from the agenda."

(Editing by Timothy Heritage)

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