Israel's National Security Minister advocated targeted assassinations in a podcast with a former hostage, saying Palestinians 'aren't even human.' The remarks drew international condemnation ahead of the October 27 elections.
Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir publicly advocated killing 30 to 40 people every night in Gaza, comments that surfaced on Sunday and quickly spread through global media. He made the remarks in a conversation with former Gaza hostage Roma Braslavsky on his podcast, where they discussed Israel's recovery from the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, according to Euronews.
Ben-Gvir, who is part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, criticized the recent reduction in Israeli strikes on Gaza. "It's no secret that I disagree with the prime minister. I think we should carry out targeted assassinations in Gaza, killing 30 to 40 every night," Ben-Gvir said. He then added: "Not just those who pose an immediate threat; there are people who are not worthy of life. They should not live. They aren't even human."
In the same podcast, Ben-Gvir also advocated for the mass displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, which international legal experts say could constitute ethnic cleansing, and the resettlement of the area by Israel. Twenty years ago, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip, dismantling a bloc of 21 Jewish settlements known as Gush Katif.
"I see all of Gaza as ours. Settlements not just in Gush Katif but throughout Gaza, encouraging as much emigration as possible, sending them to their own countries, and for terrorists, without emigration, nothing-just kill them one by one," Ben-Gvir stated.
The remarks come at a time when similar statements by Ben-Gvir and other Israeli officials have been widely condemned in the past. Many have been presented to the UN's International Court of Justice as evidence of genocidal intent. Israel denies committing genocide in Gaza, where more than 100,000 Palestinians have been killed in the military offensive over two years, according to medical sources.
Ben-Gvir is banned from more than 10 countries, including France, Belgium, Spain, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Although he has no authority over the Israeli military, he holds significant control over key parts of the security apparatus, including the prisons where thousands of Palestinians from Gaza and the occupied West Bank are held, as well as the national police.
Israel's Supreme Court ruled in 2025 that the prison service under Ben-Gvir denies Palestinians minimal nutrition. Until recently, Israel struck Gaza almost daily, with attacks killing more than 1,250 people since the October ceasefire, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The Israeli military claims the strikes targeted Hamas militants.
Local Israeli media rarely mentioned this statement, indicating how once-fringe ideologies like Ben-Gvir's are increasingly present ahead of Israeli elections scheduled for October 27, 2026, according to Euronews.
The Israeli military recently reduced strikes on Gaza as a quiet concession to US President Donald Trump, after Netanyahu rejected his latest attempt to move the ceasefire forward. Israeli media reported last week that the authority to carry out strikes is now limited to the army chief of staff, which angered right-wing lawmakers like Ben-Gvir.
