Israel's far-right minister Ben-Gvir calls for more Palestinians to be killed in Gaza
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for a sharp escalation in strikes to kill "30 to 40" Palestinians every night in Gaza, openly breaking with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of discussions on the enclave's post-war order.
- World
- DPA
- Published Date: 01:29 PM 17 August 2026
Israel's far-right national security minister has called for the killing of more Palestinians in Gaza ahead of talks on the post-war order in the coastal strip, saying he disagreed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the issue.
Itamar Ben-Gvir made the remarks in a podcast with Rom Braslavski, a former Gaza hostage. The podcast went live on Saturday evening.
"I think that targeted killings should be carried out in Gaza, removing 30, 40 people every night," said Ben-Gvir, who is the chairman of the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party.
He said he was not referring only to Palestinian fighters who posed an immediate threat. There were people in Gaza, he said, who did not deserve to live.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi condemned Ben-Gvir's comments in a post on X on Monday morning.
"This Zionist criminal speaks at the same time of expelling Palestinians and of settlement construction across the entire Gaza Strip," he wrote. "These confessions must be recorded and preserved for the day of reckoning and for the trial of these criminals."
The remarks came ahead of new mediation talks by Jared Kushner, US envoy and son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, in the region.
On Sunday, Kushner held talks in Egypt with President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi and representatives of the Palestinian militant organization Hamas on the future of the Gaza Strip.
He is due to meet Netanyahu in Israel On Monday. Former British prime minister Tony Blair and the high representative for Gaza on Trump's Board of Peace, Nickolay Mladenov, are also expected to attend the meeting.
Netanyahu said just over a week ago that Israel rejected a roadmap drawn up by the Board of Peace for the Gaza Strip, which has been largely destroyed in the war.
"The Israeli army will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed," Netanyahu said. He also reiterated his rejection of an independent Palestinian state.
Senior Hamas official Basem Naim said, by contrast, that Hamas remained committed to the Gaza roadmap.
Former Israeli national security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat criticized the Gaza roadmap as a weakening of Trump's original peace plan, citing the disarmament of Hamas by a Palestinian body and the planned storage of weapons within the Gaza Strip.
Israel, by contrast, is demanding the complete removal of all weapons from the coastal strip, fearing they could otherwise fall back into Hamas' hands in the future.
The Israeli army must not withdraw before "Gaza is completely demilitarized of all weapons and Hamas ceases to exist as a military or political entity," Ben-Shabbat said, speaking for the right-wing conservative think tank Misgav.
Itamar Ben-Gvir made the remarks in a podcast with Rom Braslavski, a former Gaza hostage. The podcast went live on Saturday evening.
"I think that targeted killings should be carried out in Gaza, removing 30, 40 people every night," said Ben-Gvir, who is the chairman of the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party.
He said he was not referring only to Palestinian fighters who posed an immediate threat. There were people in Gaza, he said, who did not deserve to live.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi condemned Ben-Gvir's comments in a post on X on Monday morning.
"This Zionist criminal speaks at the same time of expelling Palestinians and of settlement construction across the entire Gaza Strip," he wrote. "These confessions must be recorded and preserved for the day of reckoning and for the trial of these criminals."
The remarks came ahead of new mediation talks by Jared Kushner, US envoy and son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, in the region.
On Sunday, Kushner held talks in Egypt with President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi and representatives of the Palestinian militant organization Hamas on the future of the Gaza Strip.
He is due to meet Netanyahu in Israel On Monday. Former British prime minister Tony Blair and the high representative for Gaza on Trump's Board of Peace, Nickolay Mladenov, are also expected to attend the meeting.
Netanyahu said just over a week ago that Israel rejected a roadmap drawn up by the Board of Peace for the Gaza Strip, which has been largely destroyed in the war.
"The Israeli army will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed," Netanyahu said. He also reiterated his rejection of an independent Palestinian state.
Senior Hamas official Basem Naim said, by contrast, that Hamas remained committed to the Gaza roadmap.
Former Israeli national security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat criticized the Gaza roadmap as a weakening of Trump's original peace plan, citing the disarmament of Hamas by a Palestinian body and the planned storage of weapons within the Gaza Strip.
Israel, by contrast, is demanding the complete removal of all weapons from the coastal strip, fearing they could otherwise fall back into Hamas' hands in the future.
The Israeli army must not withdraw before "Gaza is completely demilitarized of all weapons and Hamas ceases to exist as a military or political entity," Ben-Shabbat said, speaking for the right-wing conservative think tank Misgav.
OTHER WORLD NEWS