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Ultra-right Israeli minister Ben Gvir defends worsening conditions for Palestinian prisoners

Israel’s National Security Minister, the far-right Itamar Ben Gvir, defended his management of the Israeli prison system since taking office this Tuesday: “One of the main objectives I have set for myself is to worsen the situation of terrorists in prisons,” he wrote on the social network X.

Ben Gvir assured that his efforts are focused on reducing prisoners’ rights “to the minimum required by law”, adding that “everything published about the abhorrent conditions of the detainees is true”, in reference to the abuses reported by both these as well as by humanitarian organizations, which notably include torture at Sde Teman prison in the southern Negev desert.

The statements of the leader of the ultra Jewish Power party are part of an exchange of accusations between Israeli authorities and Israeli authorities following the release of Mohammed Abu Salmeya, director of the most important Al Shifa hospital in Gaza, after seven months in captivity. Abu Salmeya, captured by the army in November for questioning about Hamas activities in the center (the army found one of its tunnels under Al Shifa), reported having suffered “severe torture” and daily attacks in prison. In addition, he reported that some prisoners have lost up to 30 kilos in weight due to lack of food: “For two months, none of the prisoners ate more than a piece of bread a day.”

The release of Abu Salmeya caused a great stir among the ministers of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, who criticized the decision as a direct attack on the Shin Bet led by Ben Gvir and the Defense Ministry led by Yoav Galant. The Israeli internal intelligence service defended itself against the accusations by blaming Ben Gvir for not increasing the number of prisons despite having demanded it “in all possible forums” for a year, which led to a shortage of places in the penitentiary centers and the release of Palestinian prisoners like Abu Salmeya.

The ultra minister responded to the accusations today by assuring that since he has been in office, 2,500 new prison places have been built, in April the project of a new prison with 936 places was approved and 1,200 more places will be added before the end of the year. . “It is very possible that even after the construction of new prisons is completed, many terrorists will still be stuffed in prisons. I have already proposed a very simple solution, introducing the death penalty for terrorists,” he concluded in his message on the network.

In January 2023, Ben Gvir proposed a death penalty law for Palestinians that was approved at first reading two months later (Israeli laws require three readings to come into force). Since then, there has been no further progress in the processing of this rule. The rule, which he defends to this day – last Sunday he called for prisoners to be sentenced to death by “shooting in the head” – allows the death penalty to be applied to Palestinian detainees who committed “racially motivated murder with the aim of harming the State of Israel”. (EFE)