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Relatives of some of the 240 people held by Hamas militants in Gaza have urged Israeli politicians not to demand capital punishment for captured Palestinian militants, saying that even talk of doing so might endanger the hostages.
A number of suspected Hamas terrorists were detained after the cross-border attack into Israel on October 7. Israel’s Justice Ministry said earlier this month that “punishments befitting the severity of the horrors committed” would be issued for those convicted.
Far-right politicians such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have called for the death penalty, which is dormant on Israel’s lawbooks. However, some of the relatives of Israelis being held hostage have urged their government to tone down the rhetoric, as hopes grow of a deal to bring some of them home.
“It would mean playing along with their [Hamas’] mind games,” Yarden Gonen, whose sister is among the hostages, told Ben-Gvir and his party colleagues during a parliamentary panel.
“In return we would get pictures of our loves ones murdered, with the State of Israel and not [Hamas] being blamed for it. Don’t pursue this until after they are back here. Don’t put my sister’s blood on your hands.”
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. The only court-ordered execution in Israeli history was of convicted Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in 1962.
Despite that, Linor Dan-Calderon, three of whose relatives are hostages, said: “We are a nation that pursues life, not one that pursues revenge. I am simply asking you to drop this from the agenda.”
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