A shocking exchange between a former Israeli soldier held captive in Gaza and far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has drawn renewed international scrutiny over the far-right official’s extreme anti-Palestinian policies, coming amid ongoing deadly violations of a fragile 2025 ceasefire in Gaza.
The conversation unfolded in the debut episode of former captive Rom Braslavski’s new podcast titled *October 8*, which was first reported by Israeli media outlets over the weekend. Braslavski, who was released from Gaza captivity in October 2025, shared a brutal personal request for Ben Gvir during the discussion: that the minister, whose portfolio includes oversight of the Israeli Prison Service, grant him permission to carry out the execution of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli detention facilities.
“I have a personal request,” Braslavski told Ben Gvir. “Let me be the one who hangs them. I don’t want a rope — with my own hands I will execute every terrorist in the State of Israel.” Ben Gvir responded immediately with enthusiastic support, saying he would “try and turn the world upside down” to fulfill the request. The far-right minister added that watching released captives execute Palestinian detainees is “one of my dreams,” and described Braslavski as “the right person in the right place […] to hang and execute them one by one.” He added bluntly that Palestinian prisoners “don’t deserve to live.”
This inflammatory exchange comes as Ben Gvir has spent months advancing a sweeping agenda to escalate abuse against Palestinian detainees held in Israeli custody. Inmates have repeatedly reported widespread torture and sexual assault under the harsh policies Ben Gvir has imposed. Just this month, an Israeli court blocked one of the minister’s more extreme proposals: introducing crocodiles into moats surrounding detention facilities holding Palestinian prisoners. In May, the Israeli Knesset approved a bill sponsored by Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party that establishes public trials and allows the death penalty for Palestinian detainees accused of involvement in the October 7, 2023 attacks that killed 1,200 people and took 251 captives, including Braslavski.
Braslavski was working as a security guard at the Nova music festival in southern Israel while on leave from the Israeli military when the 2023 attack took place. As of June 2026, rights groups estimate more than 9,000 Palestinians are held in Israeli detention facilities, with at least 104 Palestinian inmates dying in custody since the October 2023 attacks. During the podcast interview, Ben Gvir openly acknowledged that Palestinian detainees are enduring harsh conditions — and expressed satisfaction with their suffering. “They are suffering, it’s hard for them, it’s bad for them, and I’m glad it’s bad for them,” he said.
The conversation soon shifted to the situation in Gaza, where Ben Gvir called for a dramatic escalation of Israeli military attacks, saying the country should kill dozens of Palestinian civilians and fighters every night before ultimately permanently expelling the entire Palestinian population from the enclave. “I think we should carry out targeted assassinations in Gaza, taking down 30 to 40 every night,” Ben Gvir said, clarifying that the targets would “not just those who pose an immediate threat.” He added dehumanizing language: “There are people there who are not worthy of life. They shouldn’t live. They’re not even people.”
Ben Gvir also publicly split with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over pressure from the United States to limit Israeli attacks in the devastated Gaza Strip, saying he firmly rejects any limits on military operations. He doubled down on his long-standing calls for ethnic cleansing of Gaza, reiterating that the entire enclave should be annexed by Israel and cleared of Palestinians to make way for Israeli settlements. “I see all of Gaza as ours,” he said, adding he wants to see “settlements not just in Gush Katif but throughout Gaza.” He further called for encouraging mass emigration of Palestinians from occupied territories, clarifying that for “terrorists, no emigration, nothing, just to kill them one by one.”
The inflammatory comments have reignited debate over Ben Gvir’s outsized influence within Netanyahu’s far-right governing coalition. Once a fringe political figure, Ben Gvir has risen to become one of the most powerful voices in Israeli politics in recent years, with his extremist views gaining growing traction among Israeli Jewish citizens. A recent poll from Israeli think tank the Jewish People Policy Institute found that 22 percent of Israeli Jewish citizens support expelling Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, while 38 percent support full annexation of the territory. Most respondents also echoed Ben Gvir’s skepticism over implementing U.S. President Donald Trump’s 15-point Gaza plan.
Ben Gvir has long faced international consequences for his anti-Palestinian policies: earlier this year, Middle East Eye reported that the International Criminal Court is moving forward with an investigation into Ben Gvir’s alleged crimes against the Palestinian people, and is considering issuing an arrest warrant. He and fellow far-right cabinet member Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have already been targeted by an international sanctions campaign over their public calls for the extermination and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
The comments come amid ongoing violence in Gaza, just months after a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect in October 2025. Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported last week that 1,258 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire was signed, with another 4,295 wounded, hundreds of them women and children. Palestinian officials in Gaza have documented thousands of Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement since it went into effect.