Israel begins construction of 'hanging facility' for death row inmates

Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, announced on Tuesday the start of the construction phase of what he called a “hanging facility” for death‑row inmates in the center of the country, according to a video he himself posted on his Telegram channel.

“We promised it and we are fulfilling it. I promised to worsen the conditions of terrorists in prisons, and we have done so. I promised to pass the death‑penalty law for terrorists, and we have passed it. And now, the death‑row pavilion and the gallows are also beginning to take shape,” he says in a video where the background is blurred behind him, but where a first wooden and iron structure under a blue tent can be seen.

The minister adds that the unit will have “observation booths” that will allow the affected and their families to “witness the procedure, as is customary in many countries,” and he says they will also be guaranteed “visitor permits.”

The Israeli Parliament approved in March a law that imposes the death penalty by default on Palestinians from the West Bank, territory occupied by Israel, found guilty of carrying out lethal attacks considered acts of terrorism by a military court. According to the law, which does not apply by default to Israeli citizens and settlers as they are tried in civilian courts and not military, executions will take place within 90 days from the sentence.

“We are making history. Our terrorists deserve nothing but one thing: death by hanging,” the politician, settler, and former convicted terrorist criminal says.

The Israeli government member is under international criticism for his recent statements in favor of executing Palestinians daily and systematically in Gaza. Germany, France, and the European Commission have recently condemned the Israeli minister’s statements about killing “between 30 and 40 people each night” in Gaza, even though they are not direct participants in the conflict.

Moreover, he boasts daily about the terrible conditions that Palestinians suffer in prison, where since October 7, 2023, at least 104 detainees have died in custody, according to data obtained by the NGO Doctors for Human Rights Israel, many of them apparently as a direct result of torture, medical negligence, and food deprivation.

Since his arrival in the government in 2022, the number of firearms licenses for Israelis, one of the competences controlled by his ministry, has increased by 126 %, many now in the hands of settlers who intimidate Palestinian families in the occupied West Bank.