Harun Nasrullah
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has called for Israeli forces to kill between 30 and 40 Palestinians in Gaza every night, including people who do not pose an immediate threat.
Ben-Gvir made the remarks on August 15 during an interview with Rom Braslavski, an Israeli former captive held in Gaza, for the first episode of Braslavski’s podcast, The 8 October. The interview subsequently circulated widely in Palestinian and international media.
“There are people there who are not worthy of life. They shouldn’t live. They’re not even people,” Ben-Gvir said while advocating targeted killings of Palestinians in Gaza.
The remarks are the latest in a long record of inflammatory statements and policies by Ben-Gvir, who sits on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet and oversees Israel’s police and prison services.
Ben-Gvir told Braslavski that he opposed Netanyahu’s decision to scale back military strikes in Gaza under the current ceasefire. He instead called for renewed targeted killings extending beyond people considered to be immediate threats.
Although Ben-Gvir has no formal authority over the Israeli military and cannot order strikes himself, his membership of the security cabinet gives him a role in shaping government policy on war and national security.
During the discussion, Ben-Gvir also pledged to support Braslavski’s request to personally participate in executions if Israel’s recently enacted death penalty legislation is used against Palestinians convicted by military courts of deadly attacks against Israelis.
“I have a personal request, and I am truly looking you in the eyes, minister. Let me be the one who hangs them,” Braslavski told Ben-Gvir.
“I don’t want a rope; I want a button on a gun. With my own hands, I will execute every terrorist in the state of Israel,” he added.
Ben-Gvir responded: “I will turn the world upside down to make that happen. I promise you that I will do everything I can and turn the world upside down until it happens.”
Ben-Gvir also called for Palestinians to leave Gaza permanently and advocated Israeli settlement of the territory, telling Braslavski that he regarded “all of Gaza as ours” — a position he has repeatedly expressed.
International lawyers have warned that policies designed to bring about the mass or permanent displacement of Palestinians from Gaza could amount to ethnic cleansing.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,250 Palestinians in the territory since the ceasefire took effect in October.
Ben-Gvir’s latest remarks form part of a broader record of extremist rhetoric and policies dating back decades, including his teenage involvement with the outlawed Kahanist movement.
As national security minister, he has pushed for the death penalty to be imposed on Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks and has advocated harsher conditions for Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons.
His statements and policies have drawn international condemnation. The United Kingdom and several European Union countries have imposed sanctions on him, although these measures have not prevented him from continuing to advocate policies targeting Palestinians.
