Ben-Gvir Calls For Execution of Palestinian Hostages with ‘Shot to the Head’

Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, called on Sunday for the execution of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails by shooting them in the head.
In a video statement, Ben-Gvir insisted that Palestinian prisoners should be killed with a ‘shot to the head’.
He urged the passing of the bill in the Israeli Knesset for executing prisoners, promising to provide minimal food to keep them alive until the law is enacted.
The Israeli Knesset's General Assembly approved the preliminary reading of the bill in early March 2023, which imposes the death penalty on Palestinian prisoners.
The proposed law, requiring two more readings in the Knesset to become effective, mandates courts to impose the death penalty on those “committing a murder offense motivated by racism and intending to harm the State of Israel.”
Fighting Any Palestinian Presence
Since October 7, 2023 when Israel waged a war on the Gaza Strip, Palestinian prisoners have been living in horrific conditions. Many died under torture or due to difficult living conditions.
According to the head of the Prisoners' Club, Abdullah Al-Zaghari, “The statements of fascist and extremist Minister Ben Gvir represent a system that practices genocide against the Palestinian people, and only speaks in the language of killing and fighting any Palestinian presence in any form.”
He noted that Ben Gvir's statements went beyond the stage of threat.
Since Israel waged its war on Gaza, “the occupation prison administration, which falls under Ben-Gvir’s authority, has actually executed Palestinian prisoners and detainees,” Al-Zaghari said.
The Israeli occupation forces have arrested more than 9,450 citizens from the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, since last October 7, along with thousands of citizens from Gaza, and hundreds of Palestinians from the territory occupied in 1948.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, there has been a simultaneous and unprecedented escalation of torture against detainees.
They also mentioned unprecedented crimes against detainees, most notably torture, starvation, medical neglect, forced disappearance, in addition to the tragic and cruel conditions of detention, mass isolation, and torture, apart from the tragic and cruel conditions of detention, mass isolation, and torture.
Unprecedented Arrests
The Palestinian Prisoners Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoners' Club said the detainees include those arrested from their houses, on checkpoints, those who surrendered under pressure and those arrested as hostages.
They added that the detention campaigns carried out since October 7 are accompanied by escalated crimes and violations such as humiliation, brutal beatings, threats against detainees and their families, besides vandalism and destruction in detainees’ houses, confiscating vehicles, gold and money, in addition to the destruction of infrastructure.
The Commission and the Prisoners’ Club also confirmed that 18 Palestinian detainees have died in Israeli prisons and detention camps since Israel waged its war on the Gaza Strip.
Earlier, a CNN investigation revealed grave violations committed by Israel against Palestinians in the secret detention center located in the Negev Desert.
The American news channel said it spoke to three Israeli whistleblowers who worked at the Sde Teiman desert camp, which holds Palestinians detained during Israel’s invasion of Gaza. All spoke out at risk of legal repercussions and reprisals from groups supportive of Israel’s hardline policies in Gaza.
They paint a picture of a facility where doctors sometimes amputated prisoners’ limbs due to injuries sustained from constant handcuffing; of medical procedures sometimes performed by underqualified medics earning it a reputation for being “a paradise for interns”; and where the air is filled with the smell of neglected wounds left to rot.
According to the accounts, the facility some 18 miles from the Gaza frontier is split into two parts: enclosures where around 70 Palestinian detainees from Gaza are placed under extreme physical restraint, and a field hospital where wounded detainees are strapped to their beds, wearing diapers and fed through straws.
“They stripped them down of anything that resembles human beings,” said one whistleblower, who worked as a medic at the facility’s field hospital.
After an outcry, Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said the military launched a probe into the allegations of mistreatment at detention facilities that fell under the responsibility of the Israeli army.
Last week, the Haaretz newspaper said Israel's High Court of Justice ordered the state to provide details of the conditions under which Gazan prisoners are held in the Sde Teiman detention center in southern Israel, despite the state's declaration that it intends to empty the facility.

The Yemeni government met in the interim capital, Aden, on Thursday, with Prime Minister Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak presiding to review an economic rescue plan focused on government reforms, ending the Houthi coup, and restoring state control.
Yemen’s economy faces a deep crisis, with falling revenues and a halt in oil exports after Houthi attacks on export ports and stalled peace efforts amid increased Houthi activity regionally and at sea.
In Thursday’s meeting, Yemen’s Cabinet discussed urgent economic issues, including currency instability and electricity shortages, and reviewed a draft economic rescue plan aligned with government reforms.
The government aims to finalize the plan, which focuses on restoring state control, ending the Houthi coup, achieving peace, fighting corruption, and improving transparency. The plan also seeks to boost the economy and make better use of foreign aid.
A ministerial committee, led by the finance minister and including other key officials, was formed to refine the plan. The committee will review suggestions and present a revised version in two weeks for further discussion.
State media reported that the Cabinet instructed the ministerial committee to align the rescue plan with the government's reform agenda and economic recovery strategy. The committee will set priorities, review progress, and develop a unified economic document to guide urgent government actions.
Yemen’s Cabinet emphasized the need to realistically assess challenges and tackle them through joint efforts with the Presidential Leadership Council.
The discussion focused on ensuring the rescue plan addresses the economic crisis’s root causes—worsened by Houthi attacks on oil facilities and shipping routes—and on defining the support needed from international donors.
The meeting also reviewed implemented and ongoing policies, noting obstacles and suggesting solutions to overcome them.
Moreover, Yemen’s Cabinet reviewed reports on fuel shortages affecting Aden’s power stations and discussed urgent steps to stabilize electricity and ensure water supplies.
State media said officials stressed the need for emergency fuel and additional supplies to keep services stable.

Ben-Gvir Calls For Execution of Palestinian Hostages with ‘Shot to the Head’