Israel prepares historic terror trial
Never before in its history has the state of Israel been confronted with a crime on the scale of the terror attack on October 7, 2023, says a former attorney general. Now the judiciary is preparing a trial that is likely to go down in Israel's history with an equally unprecedented effort.
Israel is evaluating evidence of the massacre by Palestinian terrorists on October 7, which, according to a media report, could lead to one of the most important court cases of the post-war period. Israeli investigators are currently reconstructing the events on the basis of around 200,000 photos and videos as well as 2,000 witness statements with the intention of initiating legal proceedings against those responsible, reported the Wall Street Journal. It is likely to be the most important trial since the trial of Nazi criminal Adolf Eichmann in Israel in 1961, it said.
On October 7, terrorists from the Islamist Hamas and other extremist groups murdered around 1,200 people in Israel and abducted around 240 others as hostages in the Gaza Strip. It was the worst massacre in Israel's history. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive.
According to the report, forensic evidence provided to the newspaper by Israeli officials showed, among other things, that some victims were burned alive. Photos showed mutilations on the bodies of the victims, including the genitals of men and women.
The bodies of women and girls also showed various signs of sexual violence. Hamas denied that its fighters killed children and raped women, it said.
"Unprecedented in its cruelty"
The Wall Street Journal said it investigated some of the evidence itself and also conducted interviews with first responders, survivors, victims' families and forensic experts to document an attack that the Israeli police chief described as "systematic and unprecedented in its cruelty". "The state of Israel has never dealt with crimes and an investigation of this magnitude," Roi Sheindorf, former deputy attorney general, was quoted as saying.
According to the newspaper, the trial is likely to be the most important trial in Israel since the trial of Eichmann. The SS-Obersturmbannführer had millions of Jews deported to extermination camps during the Nazi era. The trial against Eichmann, which began in 1961 and caused a worldwide sensation, lasted eight months and ended with the death sentence. He was hanged.
Israel has so far identified around 800 civilians murdered on October 7, including 37 minors under the age of 17, six of whom were under the age of five, the newspaper continued. According to the head of the forensic center, computer tomography images showed signs of torture and executions. The terrorists posted videos of killings and kidnappings on the pages of their victims on social media, where friends and family could view them, the paper continued.
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- The Middle East conflict took a devastating turn on October 7, 2023, as terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups launched a brutal attack on Israeli civilians in the Palestinian territories, resulting in one of the worst massacres in Israel's history.
- In the aftermath of the terror attack, Israel is preparing for a historic trial against the perpetrators, aiming to deliver justice for the victims and send a strong message against terrorism.
- The Israeli authorities are gathering extensive evidence, including forensic data and witness statements, to build a case against Hamas and other groups involved in the attack, which was labeled as "systematic and unprecedented in its cruelty."
Source: www.ntv.de
