Israeli minister calls for killing ’30 to 40′ Palestinians in Gaza nightly
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- Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel's far-right national security minister, said Israeli forces should 'kill 30 or 40' Palestinians in Gaza every night in a podcast with Rom Braslavski, a former Israeli captive held in Gaza.
- Ben-Gvir described Palestinians as 'not worthy of life' and 'not even people,' calling for killings to go beyond those 'who pose a danger … at that particular moment.'
- Ben-Gvir publicly broke with Prime Minister Netanyahu's decision to scale back military strikes under the current 'ceasefire,' instead arguing for renewed targeted assassinations in Gaza.
- Ben-Gvir holds a seat on Israel's security cabinet and controls the country's police and prison services, though he has no formal military authority and cannot personally order strikes.
- Ben-Gvir called for Palestinians to leave Gaza permanently alongside new Israeli settlement of the territory, telling Braslavski he saw 'all of Gaza as ours' — a stance international lawyers have warned could amount to ethnic cleansing.
- Braslavski asked to personally execute Palestinian prisoners under Israel's recently enacted death penalty law; Ben-Gvir replied he would 'turn the world upside down' to make that happen.
- Since the October ceasefire took hold, Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,250 people in Gaza according to Gaza's Ministry of Health, while the United Kingdom and some European Union states have sanctioned Ben-Gvir without affecting his actions.
Why it matters: A sitting security cabinet minister publicly advocating expanded mass killing and forced displacement gives Netanyahu political cover to abandon ceasefire-era restraint at a moment when US-backed Gaza diplomacy is already strained. UK and EU sanctions have demonstrably failed to curb Ben-Gvir, and his rising leverage ahead of Israel's October 27 elections could push policy further toward permanent military rule and settlement of Gaza.
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