Israeli Minister of National Security calls for execution of Palestinian prisoners, ‘with shots to the head’

The Israeli Minister of National Security, the far-right and settler

Itamar Ben Gvir, this Sunday, called for the execution of Palestinian prisoners “with shots to the head,” in a video broadcast by Israeli media.

“Bullets should be fired at prisoners’ heads instead of giving them more food,” says Ben Gvir in the video, who in January 2023 had already proposed a death penalty law only for Palestinians, which was approved in the first reading two months later.

The minister, convicted in the past of inciting hatred, vandalism and supporting terrorism, promised that this law will soon be approved in final reading in the Knesset (Israeli Parliament).

For the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a group considered terrorist by Israel, the US and the EU, Ben Gvir’s statements “reflect a criminal mentality of hate” against Palestinian prisoners who already “suffer atrocious systematic torture” in Israeli prisons.

“These statements are no longer surprising from a minister who represents a regime involved in a genocide against the Palestinian people,” lamented the director of the Palestinian Prisoners Society, Abdullah Zaghari.. Zaghari also stressed that Israel’s violence against Palestinian prisoners has worsened. “with documented executions and murders” since the start of the war in Gaza.

“The death penalty for terrorists is the appropriate solution to the problem of imprisonment; until then, I am glad that the government has approved the proposal I presented”

Ben Gvir’s bill was passed on first reading (Israeli laws require three readings to come into force) in early March 2023, and imposed the death penalty on Palestinian detainees who “have committed a racially motivated murder.” with the aim of harming the State of Israel”.

Since then, there has been no further progress in the processing of this law. This is not the first time that the far-right minister has spoken out on this matter in this tone.

In April this year, he called for the execution of Palestinian prisoners to solve the problem of overcrowding in Israeli prisons.

“The death penalty for terrorists is the appropriate solution to the problem of imprisonment; until then, I am glad that the government has approved the proposal I presented,” he then wrote on his X account about also the Government’s approval to build 936 additional prison spaces.

The Palestinian Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society reported on Sunday that Israeli forces have arrested more than 9,450 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israeli territory, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping around 200, triggering the current war in the Strip.

Canada imposes second round of sanctions against ‘extremist’ Israeli settlers

Canada last week imposed a second round of sanctions against “extremist” Israeli settlers for “facilitating, supporting or financing” violence by Jewish radicals against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.

Canada’s Foreign Affairs Department said in a statement that the sanctions target seven individuals and five organizations, including Amana, one of the main West Bank settlement entities whose stated goal is to settle one million settlers in the Palestinian territory.

Canada is the first Western country to sanction Amana, whose leader is Ze’ev Hever, a former member of the Jewish Underground terrorist organisation that operated in the West Bank in the 1980s.

Another sanctioned entity is Lehava, founded by Bentzi Gopstein, an adviser to Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

The other organizations singled out by Canada are Hilltop Youth, Moshe’s Farm and Zvi’s Farm.

Among the sanctioned individuals stands out Daniella Weiss, leader of the Nahala movement that is dedicated to establishing illegal settlements in the West Bank. The rest of the sanctioned people are Ben Zion Gopstein, Einan Ben-Nir Amram Tanjil, Elisha Yered, Ely Federman, Meir Mordechai Ettinger and Shalom Zicherman.

Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said Canada remains “deeply concerned about extremist settler violence in the West Bank” and added that their actions have a “corrosive impact” on expectations for peace.

On May 16, Canada announced a first round of sanctions against extremist settlers, the first time in history that the North American country acted against leaders of the Israeli movement.

EFE