A far-right minister in Benjamin Netanyahu's government has called for Israeli forces to kill '30 to 40' Palestinians in Gaza every night, a demand that lands as Washington scrambles to keep President Donald Trump's fragile ceasefire alive.
What Ben-Gvir Said
Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel's national security minister, made the comments on a podcast hosted by Rom Braslavski, a former hostage once held in Gaza. The episode surfaced on Sunday and spread quickly across Arab media.
'I think targeted assassinations should be carried out in Gaza, taking down 30 to 40 every night,' Ben-Gvir said. He went further, arguing the strikes should not be limited to people who pose an immediate threat. 'There are people there who are not worthy of life. They shouldn't live. They're not even people,' he added.
Ben-Gvir said he disagreed with Netanyahu's decision to scale back military operations in Gaza. He controls Israel's police and prison services and sits on the security cabinet, but he holds no formal authority over the military and cannot order strikes himself.
Why This Threatens Trump's Deal
The timing is what should worry Washington. Trump's team is pushing a 15-point road map under which Hamas gradually disarms while Israel halts strikes and pulls its troops back. A senior Israeli minister openly urging more killings cuts directly against the framework the US is brokering and helping to fund.
On Sunday, Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and lead negotiator, held a rare meeting with Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya in El-Alamein, Egypt, alongside envoy Steve Witkoff and mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey. Kushner met Netanyahu on Monday. The talks aim to revive a deal that has stalled over Hamas disarmament.
Pressure on Netanyahu Before the Vote
Ben-Gvir's remarks also read as political pressure from inside Netanyahu's own coalition. Israel votes on 27 October, and the far right has gained ground as the campaign heats up.
Netanyahu has already resisted the US plan.
On 9 August, he said Israel rejected the 15-point document and that its forces would not withdraw until Hamas fully disarms. That leaves Trump's negotiators caught between a coalition pushing for harder strikes and a militant group refusing to give up its weapons before any pullout.
For a US audience, the stakes are direct. Washington staked significant political capital on this ceasefire, and a cabinet minister calling for nightly killings raises the question of whether the framework can survive Israel's internal politics.
Killings Continue Under the Truce
The ceasefire, which took hold last October, has not stopped the bloodshed. Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,250 people in Gaza since the truce began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Ben-Gvir's language echoes past statements that have been cited at the United Nations' top court as evidence of genocidal intent, a charge Israel denies. In the same conversation, he called for Palestinians to be encouraged to leave Gaza permanently and said he viewed 'all of Gaza as ours.' International lawyers warn that engineered mass emigration of that kind could amount to ethnic cleansing.
Israeli domestic media largely ignored the remarks, a sign of how far once-fringe positions have moved into the mainstream ahead of the vote.
