A FAR-RIGHT Israeli minister has publicly advocated killing “30 to 40” people in Gaza every night, claiming that they are “not worthy of life” and that they are “not even people”.
Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is a member of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition cabinet, made the claim that “targeted assassinations” should be carried out in Gaza while on the podcast of a former Israeli hostage.
Ben-Gvir told Rom Braslavski that it was “no secret” that he disagreed with the prime minister’s decision to reduce airstrikes on Gaza as he advocated for the mass eviction of Palestinians from Gaza in a proposal that international lawyers say could amount to ethnic cleansing.
“I think targeted assassinations should be carried out in Gaza, taking down 30 to 40 every night. Not just those who pose an immediate threat – there are people there who are not worthy of life,” he said on the podcast.
Adding: “They shouldn’t live. They’re not even people.”
More than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed, 173,000 injured, 1.9 million forcibly displaced, and human development set back an estimated 77 years.
In September 2025, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.
Ben-Gvir has made similar statements about Palestinians in the past, along with other Israeli officials, which have been presented to the United Nations’ world court as evidence of genocide.
Israel has repeatedly denied that it has committed genocide in Gaza.
Ben-Gvir has served as Israel's national security minister since 2022 as part of a coalition deal with Netanyahu's Likud party and is also the leader of Israel's far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party.
He is seen as one of the most influential people in Israel, and despite not having power over the country’s military, he does have substantial control over key parts of Israel’s security infrastructure, including running the country’s prisons where thousands of Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank are incarcerated.
Ben-Gvir also has control over the national police force.
In the interview, he also advocated for the resettlement of Gaza by Israel, adding that Palestinians should be killed “one by one”.
“I see all of Gaza as ours,” he said.
“Settlements not just in Gush Katif but throughout Gaza, encouraging as much emigration as possible, sending them to their countries, and for the terrorists, no emigration, nothing, just to kill them one by one.”
In July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – the principal judicial organ of the United Nations – issued an advisory ruling saying that Israel’s presence in occupied Palestinian territories like Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank was “illegal”.
UN states, including the UK, were therefore obliged to “ensure compliance by Israel with international humanitarian law” and to refrain from any dealings with Israel relating to occupied Palestinian land.
In June, Ben-Gvir was condemned after declaring that “all of Lebanon must burn” just hours before Israel and Hezbollah agreed to renew their ceasefire.
He wrote on social media at the time that for “every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep”.
Ben-Gvir was sanctioned by the UK Government last year, accused of inciting “extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights".
The far-right minister previously sparked several diplomatic incidents after sharing a horrific video showing Gaza flotilla activists being brutally assaulted by his police force.
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