Israel builds facilities with ‘observation booths’ to hang Palestinians condemned to death

Far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced on Tuesday the start of the construction phase of what he called a “hanging facility” for Palestinians — whom he referred to as “terrorists” — who have been sentenced to death, according to a video he posted on his Telegram channel. The Israeli Parliament (Knesset) approved a law in late March that by default imposes the death penalty on Palestinians living in the West Bank, territory occupied by Israel, found guilty by a military court of carrying out lethal attacks deemed acts of terrorism.

“We promised it and we are delivering. I promised to make life worse for terrorists in prisons, and we have delivered. I promised to pass the death-penalty law for terrorists, and we passed it. And now, the death row wing and the gallows are also beginning to take shape,” Ben-Gvir says in a video that shows an initial wooden-and-iron structure under a blue tarp.

In the same video, the national security minister adds that the facility will include “observation booths” that will allow victims and their families to “witness the procedure, as is customary in many countries,” citing the United States as an example, adding they will be granted “visitor permits.”

Under the law the Knesset passed in March, executions must be carried out within 90 days of sentencing. The law does not apply by default to Israeli citizens, including settlers, because they are subject to civil law and are tried in civilian courts, not military ones.

“We are making history. Our terrorists deserve only one thing: death by hanging,” says the politician, a settler and an ex-convict who was convicted of terrorism offenses. A few days ago, Ben-Gvir suggested on a podcast that Israel should kill “30 or 40” people every night in Gaza.

The minister also daily boasts about the poor conditions Palestinians suffer in prison, where since October 7, 2023 — when Hamas-led attacks killed nearly 1,300 people — at least 104 detainees have died in custody, according to data obtained by the NGO Physicians for Human Rights–Israel (PHRI). Many of those deaths appear to be the direct result of torture, medical negligence, and food deprivation.

Since Ben-Gvir joined the government in 2022, always holding the national security portfolio, the number of firearms licenses for Israelis — one of the responsibilities his ministry controls — has risen by 126%. Many of those permits are now in the hands of settlers who daily intimidate Palestinian families in the occupied West Bank.

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