Palestinian Officials Condemn Ben-Gvir After Video Shows Him Threatening Handcuffed Hamas Prisoner

Palestinian authorities have sharply denounced Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir after he published footage of himself confronting a jailed Hamas figure inside his cell and telling the prisoner he wanted him dead. The video, shared on social media on Sunday, has reignited concerns over the treatment of Palestinian detainees and the conduct of one of Israel's most controversial cabinet members.

The Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs issued a statement on Monday describing the footage as evidence that the degradation of Palestinian prisoners has reached unprecedented levels. Raed Abu al-Hummus, who leads the Palestinian Authority body, said the scenes broadcast by the minister represented the height of depravity and characterized conditions inside Israeli prisons as a form of organized terrorism.

In the clip, Ben-Gvir is seen standing inside the cell of Hassan Salama, a Hamas member who has spent three decades behind Israeli bars. Surrounded by Israeli security personnel, the minister addresses Salama directly, declaring that he wants to kill him and that he wants him executed. According to Ben-Gvir, the recording was made roughly two weeks before he posted it.

Salama is serving multiple life terms for his involvement in a series of Hamas-directed attacks in 1996, among them bus bombings that killed and wounded numerous people. His long imprisonment has made him a symbol for Palestinian factions, and the publication of the video has amplified anger already running high over Israeli detention practices.

The Palestinian Prisoners Media Office responded by calling the minister's actions a cheap political and electoral stunt, timed ahead of Israel's parliamentary elections scheduled for October 27. The office further described the episode as a cowardly act of bullying directed at a defenseless and handcuffed prisoner, and stressed that Israeli authorities bear full responsibility for Salama's life and safety.

Hamas also weighed in, saying the threat against Salama signals new crimes against Palestinian detainees. The group pledged to continue its efforts to secure the release of prisoners held by Israel, framing the incident as part of a broader pattern of abuse rather than an isolated outburst.

The confrontation is not an isolated one for Ben-Gvir, who has built a public profile around harsh rhetoric and hardline policies toward Palestinians in Israeli custody. In August, he shared video of himself entering the cells of Palestinian women and boasting about the inadequate conditions they faced. The previous year, he was seen taunting Marwan Barghouti, a long-imprisoned Fatah leader, inside his jail cell.

In the latest video, the minister also repeated his longstanding calls for the execution of Palestinian prisoners, a demand that has gained institutional traction. Israel's Knesset approved legislation in March permitting the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners in certain cases, a measure strongly promoted by Ben-Gvir and his far-right Jewish Power party. Notably, the law does not allow capital punishment for Jewish Israelis, a disparity that has drawn widespread criticism and protests from countries across the region.

The legal change has heightened fears among Palestinian rights groups that prisoners could face execution under a system they view as discriminatory. The publication of the video, combined with the new law, has deepened anxieties about the direction of Israeli penal policy and the vulnerability of detainees who have no means of self-defense.

Beyond the prison issue, Ben-Gvir used the same day to reiterate calls for the emigration of Palestinians from Gaza and the occupied West Bank. In July, he introduced a seven-year plan he labeled Disengagement 710, aimed at removing Gaza's roughly two million residents through what he describes as voluntary emigration. He has said that if re-elected, he would create a migration ministry dedicated to expelling Palestinians.

That vision has been accompanied by other provocative moves. In July, Israeli cabinet members and parliamentarians, including Ben-Gvir, joined a march toward Gaza calling for the rebuilding of Jewish settlements in the besieged territory. He has also advanced plans to annex large portions of occupied Palestinian land, despite condemnation from European and Arab leaders.

This year, the minister approved the issuance of gun licenses to Israelis in 18 additional settlements in occupied Palestinian territory, settlements that are considered illegal under international law. Critics argue that such measures entrench the occupation and further inflame tensions, while supporters within his political base see them as necessary security steps.

Ben-Gvir has additionally indicated that Jewish Power would demand the defense and justice portfolios as a condition for joining any future governing coalition, underscoring his ambition to expand influence over Israel's security and legal apparatus. That prospect unsettles those who view his record as incompatible with the fair treatment of detainees.

For Palestinians, the video is the latest in a series of provocations that they say dehumanize prisoners and their families. The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs has called for international attention to what it describes as systematic abuse, while prisoners' advocacy groups warn that inflammatory gestures by senior officials can translate into real-world violence inside detention facilities.

With Israel's election approaching, observers note that such episodes are likely to intensify rather than subside. The footage has become both a rallying cry for Palestinian factions and a campaign talking point for a minister whose political identity rests on confrontation. Whether it leads to any accountability, or merely hardens existing positions, remains an open question as the region braces for the next phase of a long-running dispute over the fate of thousands of Palestinian detainees.