Israel’s government has approved more than 1 billion shekels — roughly $350 million — to fund criminal proceedings against Hamas terrorists who participated in the October 7, 2023, massacre, setting in motion what is expected to become one of the most complex judicial undertakings in the country’s history.

“Following government approval and the allocation of funds, the defense establishment will now begin all necessary preparations to advance the judicial proceedings aimed at bringing the terrorists to justice,” Defense Minister Yisrael Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in a joint statement.

“The State of Israel will bring to justice the perpetrators of the most brutal massacre committed against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, and will send a clear and unequivocal message to all our enemies: whoever slaughters, murders, rapes and kidnaps Israeli citizens will pay the full price,” Katz said.

The funds will be distributed between 2026 and 2029 and will finance the construction of a dedicated courthouse, prosecution offices, and an IDF command center. The budget also covers recruitment of court personnel, salaries, building maintenance, computer and communications systems, and broadcast services.

The allocation follows legislation passed by the Knesset last month. On May 11, the Knesset voted 93-0 in favor of a law providing a legal framework for the prosecution of terrorists involved in the October 7 attack. The legislation details how judges and prosecutors are to be selected, how trials are to be conducted, and provides for an appeals process. The law establishes a special military court in Jerusalem dedicated to trying the terrorists involved in the attack, including the Nukhba terrorists — Hamas’s elite commando forces.

The legislation stipulates that the purpose of the law is to regulate the prosecution of “perpetrators of acts of hostility, murder, sexual crimes, kidnapping and looting carried out by the Hamas terrorist organization and its partners.” The law also bars anyone charged or convicted of October 7 crimes from being released through prisoner exchange agreements.

The billion-shekel figure, however, may represent only a fraction of the eventual cost. The sum allocated is about half the Finance Ministry’s estimate of roughly 2 billion shekels for implementing the law. The Defense Ministry’s own estimate runs far higher — approximately 5 billion shekels, or $1.72 billion — largely due to plans for a dedicated judicial compound staffed by some 400 soldiers.

The Israel Prison Service has stated that several hundred detainees are members of Hamas’s Nukhba commando unit, though to date none of those individuals has been indicted for their crimes. According to IDF assessments, approximately 3,800 Nukhba forces were among the roughly 6,000 Gazans who breached the border fence on October 7.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)