Israel Minister Ben Gvir Threatens Death Penalty For Palestinian Prisoners If Re-Elected To Cabinet
Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has threatened to execute Palestinian prisoners if he returns to the cabinet and secures the defense portfolio following the country's upcoming elections. The inflammatory remarks have drawn sharp international and regional condemnation, further intensifying debates surrounding Israel's detention policies and the future of Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
According to a report published by Qatar-based media outlet Al Jazeera, Ben-Gvir posted a video on the social media platform X showing him confronting Palestinian prisoner Hassan Salameh directly inside his prison cell. During the confrontation, Ben-Gvir told Salameh that he intended to see him executed. In an accompanying statement, the Israeli minister reiterated that upon assuming the defense ministry, he would ensure the implementation of capital punishment for high-profile detainees such as Salameh. Furthermore, Ben-Gvir stated that he would advance policies aimed at displacing Palestinians from Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Hassan Salameh has been imprisoned in Israel since 1996, serving multiple life sentences following his conviction for orchestrating a series of lethal bomb attacks during the 1990s. The newly released video prompted an immediate backlash from the Palestinian armed group Hamas, which issued a formal statement denouncing the footage as a direct and official death threat against the detained prisoner.
Political analysts note that Ben-Gvir's provocative declarations, made in the lead-up to the national elections in Israel, threaten to exacerbate already volatile tensions and draw heightened scrutiny from human rights organizations regarding the treatment of Palestinian inmates in Israeli correctional facilities.
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