Israeli occupation National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has released a video of himself entering the cell of Hassan Salameh, a long imprisoned Palestinian hostage and leading Hamas resistance figure, and openly threatening to kill him. In the footage, Ben Gvir stands over Salameh who appears handcuffed and surrounded by armed, masked Israeli prison guards and tells him: “I want to kill you. I want to execute you.” Ben Gvir said the encounter was recorded about two weeks before he made the video public on September 28.
The video has triggered widespread Palestinian condemnation, with the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex Detainees Affairs describing the episode as evidence of “organised terrorism” inside Israeli occupation prisons. The Palestinian Prisoners Media Office said Ben Gvir’s action was a political and electoral stunt, as Israeli elections are expected on October 27, and called it an act of intimidation against a defenceless captive. It held the Israeli occupation fully responsible for Salameh’s safety and life.
Salameh has been held by the Israeli occupation since 1996 and is serving 48 life sentences plus 30 years after being convicted by an Israeli court in connection with attacks carried out in the 1990s. Palestinian sources identify him as one of the prominent figures of the al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas resistance. Reports say he has spent roughly three decades in detention, including 13 years in harsh solitary confinement.
Ben Gvir used the video to promote a wider campaign for the execution of Palestinian hostages. He said that if appointed defence minister, he would work to impose death sentences on prisoners such as Salameh and also pursue the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza and the occupied West Bank. His remarks follow the Israeli Knesset’s March passage of a law making hanging the default death sentence for Palestinians convicted of certain offences categorised as “terrorism related,” a measure condemned by rights groups as discriminatory.
Hamas resistance denounced the minister’s threat as a dangerous escalation and a flagrant violation of international law, warning that it could pave the way for further crimes against Palestinian hostages in Israeli prisons. The group said Ben Gvir’s actions would not break Salameh’s resolve or that of other Palestinian captives, while reiterating its commitment to securing the release of Palestinian hostages.
The episode has also renewed focus on the wider conditions facing Palestinians held by the Israeli occupation. Palestinian detainee organisations say threats, isolation, abuse and the public humiliation of captives form part of a broader system of repression. Ben Gvir’s decision to personally enter Salameh’s cell, issue an explicit death threat and broadcast it publicly has intensified concerns that senior Israeli officials are normalising violence against Palestinian hostages amid the continuing genocide in Gaza.
