On Tuesday, a provocative announcement from Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir sent shockwaves across the international community, as he publicly confirmed the ongoing construction of a dedicated facility to carry out executions of Palestinian prisoners. In an Instagram video shared to his 150,000 followers, Ben Gvir stood at the active construction site and laid out the extreme details of the planned complex, including separate viewing galleries that would allow what he described as “crime victims” to observe the hangings of Palestinian detainees. “In this place, the terrorists will be executed,” Ben Gvir stated in the footage, adding that the project fulfills a core campaign promise he made to his political base. The minister also took the opportunity to mock critics of the policy, noting that those who once “ridiculed” and “giggled” at his proposal can now witness the project taking physical shape. This new execution facility moves forward after Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed a controversial death penalty bill earlier this year sponsored by Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party. The legislation grants the Israel Prison Service (IPS) sole authority over carrying out executions, which are set to be conducted by hanging within 90 days of a conviction, with three trained IPS volunteers already reportedly lined up to perform the sentences. Critics have quickly highlighted the explicitly discriminatory nature of the law, noting it is structured to apply exclusively to Palestinian detainees, not Israeli Jewish citizens convicted of identical offenses. Israeli media reports have confirmed that IPS began prepping execution sites and training personnel even before the Knesset gave final approval to the bill in March. Ben Gvir has doubled down on his inflammatory rhetoric in recent weeks: just last week, he promised a former Israeli soldier held hostage by Hamas in Gaza that he would clear the way for the ex-soldier to personally participate in executions, after the former captive stated he wanted to kill Palestinian detainees “with his own hands.” Ben Gvir went even further during the same public appearance, declaring that all Palestinian detainees held by Israel “don’t deserve to live” and openly calling for the mass killing and forced expulsion of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. Ben Gvir’s latest announcement has already drawn sharp international condemnation. German Vice Chancellor and co-leader of the Social Democratic Party Lars Klingbeil has publicly called on the European Union to impose sanctions on the minister, noting that “These are statements that we, as the German government, cannot accept in any way,” and labeling Ben Gvir’s language as explicitly “dehumanizing.” Leading human rights organizations have long documented that Israel already carries out systematic extrajudicial killings of Palestinians with near-universal impunity. Ahead of the Knesset’s vote on the death penalty law in March, Yuli Novak, executive director of prominent Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, emphasized that “Israel already kills Palestinians systematically and faces no demands for accountability.” B’Tselem has further documented that under Ben Gvir’s leadership, IPS detention facilities operating in Israel and occupied territories have devolved into “a network of torture camps where inmates are subjected to continuous abuse and violence.” The organization added that the formal death penalty law “adds another official killing mechanism to the existing practices.” As of June 2024, official Palestinian data records that at least 104 Palestinian prisoners have died while in Israeli custody since the start of 2023, a death toll human rights groups attribute to systemic abuse, medical neglect, and extrajudicial killing by Israeli authorities.
Israel’s Ben Gvir boasts of planned execution facility for Palestinian prisoners
