Israel approved the establishment of a special military tribunal to try Palestinians accused of participating in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel earlier this month, and will give the body the power to impose the death penalty.

But analysts, campaigners, and international organisations – including the United Nations – have all questioned whether there will be any real justice delivered by the tribunal, and instead consider it a way of seeking revenge on imprisoned Palestinians.

The impact of the October 7 attack, in which 1,139 were killed and 250 abducted, was amplified in Israel through endless repetition of videos of the attack.

Al Jazeera’s own investigation unit has found that stories of atrocities committed on October 7 – some of the false – were used to justify the genocide launched on Gaza after the attack, which has so far killed more than 72,600 Palestinians.

Some Israeli parliamentarians have made their positions clear on what they hope will be the result of the televised trials of an estimated 300 detained Palestinians.

Many of those detained are civilians, human rights groups say, including prominent figures like hospital director Dr Hussam Abu Safiya. Palestinian detainees have also been physically abused and raped, with dozens dying in Israeli prisons.

According to Justice Minister Yariv Levin, one of the co-sponsors of the bill that established the tribunal, the legislation was “one of the most important moments of the current Knesset [parliament]”.

“One can feel that we are doing the right thing by finding a way to unite at this moment, even though we are on the eve of elections and despite all the disagreements that exist,” Levin added, referring to the cross-party support for the bill.

Victor’s justice

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk publicly called for the legislation establishing the tribunal to be repealed, saying that justice could not be delivered by any process that failed to meet international standards.

The International Bar Association (IBA) raised concerns about the possibility of a fair trial. “This risk [of a lack of a fair trial] is heightened by reports of coercive practices in security-related cases, which can amount to torture or other ill-treatment and lead to unreliable information, false confessions, wrongful convictions, and serious miscarriages of justice,” the IBA said.

Rights groups, such as Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, and the Israeli rights group B’tselem, have also condemned the legal framework underpinning the bill.

“People in Israel need justice, but I don’t know if this it, or if the Israeli state as it currently stands is capable of delivering it,” Yossi Mekelberg, a senior consulting fellow with Chatham House, said, referencing the filmed abuse of international Gaza flotilla activists by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir that went entirely without punishment within Israel. “I don’t have any sympathy with the Nukhba [members of the Hamas military wing that reportedly led the October 7 attack], but justice has to be as much about ourselves and our humanity as them and what they did. I worry that this might be vengeance.”

Palestinian? Guilty

Israeli politicians have consistently blamed all Palestinians for the October 7 attack.

Addressing the press just days after the attack, Israeli President Isaac Herzog laid the blame for the assault on all of the men, women, and children of Gaza, telling reporters: “It is an entire nation out there that is responsible. It’s not true this rhetoric about civilians not aware, not involved. It’s absolutely not true”.

Over the years since, equating Palestinians with “terrorists” by government ministers such as Ben-Gvir, or his fellow far-right politician, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have become routine.

Even attempts by Palestinian politicians in the Israeli parliament to speak in Arabic in the lead up to the passing of the tribunal legislation were enough to elicit howls of “shame” from the public gallery, who appeared to immediately equate speaking Arabic with supporting “terrorism”.

“We know that Israeli officials blame all of Gaza for October 7,” Hassan Jabareen, the founder of Palestinian legal rights organisation Adalah, told Al Jazeera.

“Their president, a supposed moderate, even said it. Gaza is Israel’s collective enemy. This isn’t new,” he said, referencing legislation that existed before October 7 that allowed the Israeli military to shoot people in Gaza without legal culpability.

“Now we have a military tribunal that is allowed to hand down the death penalty based on secret evidence, where the indicted aren’t present throughout the hearings, and none of the typical systems of fairness are applied, and who voted for this? A huge majority in the Knesset did.”

Dodging blame

Support among Jewish Israelis for the tribunal, and any form of punishment meted out to Palestinians from Gaza, is overwhelming.

But that does not mean that the Israeli government will be able to escape scrutiny for its own role in failing to stop the October 7 attack, and public pressure for an inquiry into the government’s actions on that day continue.

Speaking earlier this month, Rom Bralavski, a former captive held in Gaza, called on all members of the parliament to step down because of the October 7 attack. “Take responsibility, and get out of our lives,” he said.

“The blood of everyone murdered on October 7 is on your hands,” he added. “And just before you go, establish the state commission of inquiry that would investigate what exactly happened here, so it never happens again.”

Will the televised trials of those accused of carrying out the October 7 attack, and their potential execution, be enough to deflect such calls?

Potentially. But even if they don’t, says political analyst Ori Goldberg, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not particularly concerned about winning back his opponents.

“Netanyahu’s past the stage where he really cares,” Goldberg said. “This is how he operates, and it seems it’s how we allow him to operate. It’s always one more gamble, one more stunt, one more day’s grace to be won.”

Once a year, large numbers of Muslim pilgrims converge in Saudi Arabia, uniting in religious rituals and acts of worship as they perform the Hajj. While fulfilling a religious obligation, they immerse themselves in what can be a spiritual experience of a lifetime for them and a chance to seek God’s forgiveness and the erasure of past sins.

This year, the Hajj has been approaching against the backdrop of a tenuous ceasefire in the Iran war and related tensions and uncertainty in the Middle East.

Earlier in the year, travel chaos from the war ensnared some of the Muslims who were in Saudi Arabia performing “Umrah,” often referred to as the lesser or minor pilgrimage. Some were stranded and scrambled to find their way home.

Here’s a look at the annual Hajj pilgrimage and its significance to Muslims.

The Hajj is one of the pillars of Islam

The Hajj is the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia and involves a series of religious rituals. It’s required once in a lifetime of every Muslim who can afford it and is physically able to make it. Some Muslims make the journey more than once.

It is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, in addition to the profession of faith, prayer, almsgiving and fasting.

The annual Islamic pilgrimage cycles through the seasons

The Hajj occurs once a year during the lunar month of Dhul-Hijja, the 12th and final month of the Islamic calendar year. This year, the Hajj will officially start on Monday.

When the Hajj falls during the summer months, the intense heat can be especially challenging. Amid extreme high temperatures in 2024, more than 1,300 people died during Hajj, according to Saudi authorities. The country’s health minister said at the time that the vast majority of the fatalities were unauthorized pilgrims who walked long distances under the sun.

A religious obligation and a spiritual experience

For pilgrims, performing the Hajj fulfills a religious obligation and is also a deeply spiritual experience. It’s seen as a chance to seek God’s forgiveness, to grow closer to God and to walk in the footsteps of prophets.

Communally, the Hajj unites Muslims of diverse races, ethnicities, languages and economic classes from around the world. It leaves many feeling unity, connection and humility. Pilgrims also show up with their own personal appeals, wishes and experiences.

Many pilgrims bring with them prayer requests from family and friends that they would like to be said on their behalf.

Some spend years hoping and praying to one day perform the Hajj or saving up money and waiting for a permit to embark on the trip.

Ahead of the journey, preparations may include packing various essentials for the demanding trip, seeking tips from those who’ve performed the pilgrimage before, attending lectures or consulting other educational material to prepare spiritually and physically.

Pilgrims perform a series of religious rituals

Pilgrims make the intention to perform the Hajj and they enter a state of “ihram.” Being in ihram includes abiding by certain rules and prohibitions. For instance, men are not to wear regular sewn or stitched clothes that encircle the body, such as shirts, during ihram. Instead, there are simple ihram cloth garments for men; scholars say the purpose is to discard luxuries and vanity, shed worldly status symbols and immerse the pilgrim in humility and devotion to God.

A spiritual highlight of the Hajj for many is standing on the plain of Arafat, where pilgrims praise God, plead for forgiveness and make supplications. Many raise their hands in worship with tears streaming down their faces.

Other rituals include performing “tawaf,” which involves circling the Kaaba in Mecca counterclockwise seven times. The Kaaba, a cube-shaped structure, is the focal point toward which Muslims face during their daily prayers from anywhere in the world.

Among other rituals, pilgrims retrace the path of Hagar, or Hajar, the wife of Prophet Ibrahim, known as Abraham to Jews and Christians. Muslims believe Hagar ran between two hills seven times searching for water for her son.

The Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha

Eid al-Adha, or the “Feast of Sacrifice,” is the Islamic holiday that begins during the Hajj, on the 10th day of the Islamic lunar month of Dhul-Hijja.

A joyous occasion celebrated by Muslims around the world, Eid al-Adha marks Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son as an act of submission to God. During the holiday, Muslims slaughter sheep or cattle and distribute some meat to poor people.

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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

The United States has arrested the sister of the executive president of GAESA, a sprawling conglomerate of military-run businesses in Cuba, due to her alleged ties to the communist regime.

GAESA has been cited for reportedly diverting millions in aid meant for the Cuban people “at the behest of the regime,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X Thursday.

Adys Lastres Morera was taken into ICE custody after the State Department revoked her lawful permanent resident (LPR) status, according to Rubio.

Morera, who was managing real estate assets while living in Florida, reportedly aided Havana’s communist government, officials said.

ALLEGED MEMBER OF CUBA’S MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR ARRESTED BY ICE AGENTS IN MIAMI

Her status termination was carried out at Rubio’s discretion. Morera entered the United States as a lawful permanent resident in 2023, Reuters reported. 

“Today, Adys Lastres Morera, a Cuban national with ties to the communist regime in Havana, was arrested following the Department of State’s termination of her lawful permanent resident (LPR) status, at my direction,” Rubio said.

RUBIO SAYS CUBA NEEDS ‘NEW PEOPLE IN CHARGE’ AS BLACKOUTS, UNREST GRIP ISLAND

Morera is the older sister of Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, who was sanctioned earlier this month for her role as executive president of GAESA.  

GAESA has been described by officials as an exploitative communist entity that siphons resources from the Cuban population.

“While the Cuban people suffer from the collapse of Cuba’s non-functioning communist economy, GAESA functions to allow a small circle of regime elites to plunder all the remaining resources of the island, squirreling away as much as $20 billion in illicit funds away in hidden overseas bank accounts,” Rubio said. 

He added that Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, as a senior executive, is responsible for managing international assets allegedly used to fund the “lavish lifestyles” of the Castro-era elite, as well as supporting efforts tied to broader ideological influence abroad.

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Rubio also pointed to worsening conditions inside Cuba, including widespread blackouts and severe shortages of food, fuel, and medicine, arguing that GAESA is diverting resources away from basic needs under the communist system.

“GAESA’s ill-gotten riches are not spent on repairing the collapsing power grid, stocking empty pharmacies, feeding hungry families, or providing for the most basic and essential needs of the Cuban people. Instead, they are used to enrich Havana’s elites and underwrite their ongoing campaign of espionage, subversion, and revolutionary militancy against the free peoples of this hemisphere,” he said.