More than two and a half years after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, not one of the terrorists detained for taking part in the attack has been brought to trial, according to a new report by Israel’s State Comptroller, who warned that the delay is harming deterrence and denying justice to the victims and their families.
“Bringing justice to the Hamas terrorists who committed crimes during the October 7 terror attack is of utmost importance, from a legal, moral and public perspective,” outgoing State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman said.
The report faulted the state for failing to prepare for the mass detention of security prisoners after Oct. 7, as Israel’s prisons absorbed thousands of Palestinians arrested during the war. According to the report, the number of security prisoners held by Israel jumped by about 92 percent during the war, from 5,200 to roughly 10,000, worsening an already severe shortage of prison space. By October 2025, Israel’s total prison population had reached 23,400.
AFSI Insight
The failure to bring any of the captured October 7 terrorists to trial is a grave miscarriage of justice and a troubling sign of institutional paralysis. Justice delayed is justice denied—for the victims, their families, and the State of Israel itself. Prolonged delay weakens deterrence and undermines public confidence in the legal system. The establishment of special tribunals is needed. It must include extraordinary legal mechanisms to address the unique nature of the October 7 atrocities, viewing the attack not as a collection of isolated crimes but as a coordinated campaign of mass murder, torture, rape, kidnapping, and attempted genocide against the Jewish people. Just as with the post-World War II Nuremberg trials, the world must see the full scope of Hamas’s crimes documented and prosecuted in a public and historic forum.