News- Middle East: Far-right Israeli security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has threatened to withdraw his party’s support from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition unless it advances legislation to impose the death penalty on Palestinian prisoners.

Speaking at a meeting of his Otzma Yehudit faction in the Knesset, Ben-Gvir warned that his party would boycott all coalition votes if the bill is not brought forward within three weeks.

“If the death penalty law is not brought to a vote within three weeks, Otzma Yehudit will not participate in votes on coalition bills,” he declared.

Ben-Gvir accused Netanyahu’s Likud party of breaching the coalition agreement, which he claimed included a commitment to pass the death penalty law during the current Knesset term.

He criticized the Israeli prime minister for offering “excuses” to delay the bill, first before the Gaza war and later during it.

“After the war began, they said the law might endanger the kidnapped soldiers,” the hawkish minister said. “But now, with the return of the living captives, that excuse is no longer valid.”

Ben-Gvir argued that enforcing the death penalty would serve as “a significant lever of pressure on Hamas” and should be part of Israel’s “toolbox” in its war on the Palestinian resistance movement.

In July last year, the far-right Israeli minister had called for executing Palestinian prisoners held in the regime’s jails by shooting them in the head.

The Palestine Center for Prisoners’ Studies warned in August this year against Ben-Gvir’s continued incitement and targeting of Palestinian detainees, describing his actions as part of a broader campaign to dehumanize Palestinian prisoners and erode their basic rights.

The warning came after Ben-Gvir visited the prison cell of Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, a prominent Palestinian political figure imprisoned since 2002, and posted a video of himself taunting Barghouti inside his cell.

The video drew widespread condemnation from Palestinian resistance movements, human rights advocates, and political leaders, who described it as a direct threat to Barghouti’s life and a reflection of the regime’s deepening hostility toward Palestinian prisoners.

Palestinian prisoners have reported being held in harrowing conditions, particularly during the past two years of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

Multiple reports by prisoner rights organizations and the United Nations have detailed systematic abuse inside Israeli detention centers, including severe beatings, starvation, denial of family visits, and medical negligence.

According to rights groups, more than 80 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody since October 7, 2023.

The Israeli regime and Hamas recently agreed to the first phase of a ceasefire plan, which included the release of all remaining Israeli captives from Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, along with the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian territory.

Source: Press TV