EVIL Hamas terrorists who slaughtered, raped and tortured innocent civilians on October 7 are set to be executed, prosecutors told The Sun.
It will be the first time Israel has exercised the death penalty in more than 60 years in a testament to the depth of depravity of the terror group’s crimes.
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Israeli intelligence officers have worked tirelessly to scour piles of evidence collected since Hamas triggered war in October 2023.
Agents have been putting together a compelling case to charge multiple monsters who murdered and assaulted citizens after tearing through Israel’s defences.
Evidence found on laptops seized during military operations in Gaza has allowed intelligence chiefs to compile a strong case to go to trial.
At least 22 Hamas terrorists are set to be charged – all of whom attacked kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the worst hit sites of the atrocity.
The kibbutz, just a mile from the Gaza border, was attacked from three directions and Hamas brutes killed at random.
Spineless terrorists torched homes as families cowered inside before dragging hostages, including Shiri Bibas and her son Ariel and Kfir and Oded Lifshitz, back to Gaza.
Their bodies were sickeningly released in a stomach-churning ceremony earlier this year.
Israel’s leading prosecutors believe that because of the callous nature of Hamas’ crimes, the beasts will likely be executed.
Sources involved in the case confirmed to The Sun those found guilty could be sent to the gallows and hanged.
It would be the first time the country has executed anyone since the only time it did so in 1962, when wicked Nazi Adolf Eichmann was executed.
Military prosecutor Alan Baker, who has been a judge on scores of high-profile terrorist cases, said Israel is also no longer concerned by international pressure in dealing with these matters.
Baker, former legal adviser to Israel’s Foreign Office and ex-Israeli ambassador to Canada, told The Sun: “About 30 years ago, I was the prosecutor on the trial of a particularly nasty and cruel terrorist, and I managed to get him convicted with the death penalty.
“It wasn’t carried out at the time, because of a theory that it could encourage terrorists to do more horrific acts, if they feel like they are going to die anyway.
“There is of course, also always the concern of what the international community thinks too.
“In these particular cases, because of the cruel nature of these atrocities, I don’t think the sensitivity of what world will think will be considered, as there is now the feeling that the rest of the world inevitably hate us whatever we do.
“We are still as hated as we were eighty years ago.
“These people not only crossed the border illegally, but there are thousands of residents of Gaza who tagged along, who stole whatever they liked, televisions, etc. and set fire to houses.
What happened to the Bibas family?
HAMAS terrorists kidnapped the Bibas family from their home in Nir Oz during the horror October 7 assault.
Yarden Bibas was abducted separately from his wife Shiri and son Ariel, four, and nine-month-old Kfir.
They were hauled to Gaza where they were held hostage.
Shiri’s parents were both killed in the attack on the kibbutz.
Shiri and her boys – the two youngest hostages taken from Israel on October 7 – became symbols of the hostage crisis.
Late in 2023, Hamas claimed the mum and youngsters were killed in an Israeli airstrike without offering any proof.
Israeli authorities were unable to confirm their deaths.
Fears for Shiri, Ariel and Kfir grew as the months went by amid a lack of confirmation whether they were still alive or not.
On February 1, Yarden was released amid the ceasefire after 484 days in captivity.
Then on February 20, Hamas handed over coffins it said contained the bodies of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir.
Ariel and Kfir’s remains were verified by Israel, but the remains of the female did not match Shiri’s DNA.
Her body was finally handed back on the evening of February 21.
Hundreds lined the streets for their funerals on February 26, with buildings and monuments around the world illuminated in orange as a tribute to the boys’ hair colour.
Shiri, Ariel and Kfir were buried alongside her parents in Tsoher Regional Cemetery.
“There is a vast array of offenses that have been committed, including the heavy stuff, rape and murders, and these crimes against humanity will have to be dealt with very seriously.”
Baker, who now heads the international law program at the Jerusalem Center for Foreign and Security Affairs, has implored the prosecuting team to fully consider “the seriousness of these criminals”.
He added: “They committed these crimes in Israel, they invaded, they committed offences according to Israeli law, and this will have to be overseen by Israeli judges.
“I would tell them not to take into consideration what the Pope, the French government, the British etc will say, because inevitably whatever we do, whether we keep them in prison or we hang them, Israel will be condemned anyway.
“I trust they will do what they need to do, without looking at any external consideration. That is the last thing that should enter into the equation.”
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As well as the 22 set for indictment, at least 300 more terrorists who took part in the October 7 attacks are being held in Israeli prisons.
Maurice Hirsch, director of the Initiative for Palestinian Authority Accountability and Reform in the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, said the complexity of Israel’s legal system means the cases could go in many directions.
But because these are deemed the most horrific acts since the Holocaust, the death penalty upon conviction is the most likely outcome, he said.
Hirsch, a senior legal analyst at Human Rights Voices, said: “The death penalty may seem like a crazy scenario to contemplate, but it is very possible.
“They should be subject to the death penalty, but it will depend on whether Israel will be able to withstand international pressure.
“There is a question of which crimes we prosecute for. If there is no specific one victim, and as they [the terrorists] don’t even know who they’ve murdered, that could make things challenging.
“Where, when were they arrested? We can see if any of them can be linked to direct crimes. Fogs are still uncovering, but the country will do well if we can clear this up.
“It would be convenient if we could isolate 22 cases, but if I was a defense lawyer, I would ask for the evidence of mass murder.”
More than a quarter of the kibbutz’s residents were either killed or taken hostage in one of the most vile atrocities on October 7.
Per capita, Nir Oz suffered the most bloodshed and damage.
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