Ben-Gvir 'pleased' with harsh Palestinian prison conditions

Video of Prison Visit

Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Sunday said he is "pleased" with the harsh treatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, releasing footage on X in which he dismissed complaints from female detainees who said they had been denied showers and medical care for three days. The far-right minister posted the video to his account during a visit to a prison facility, where he spoke to Palestinian women through an interpreter and rejected their requests for improved conditions.

"The conditions here are very bad, and we women are not afforded any special rights, such as access to personal necessities," one prisoner said in the video, adding: "This is our third day without showers. We are not receiving medical treatment, and our clothes are not clean." Ben-Gvir responded through an interpreter: "The good conditions that used to exist in the prisons are over," and later wrote in an accompanying post: "The 'whining' of the terrorists about the conditions in the prisons doesn't work on me."

Systematic Crackdown

This is not the first time Ben-Gvir has entered cells to mock Palestinian detainees. Earlier in August, he told a female prisoner who complained about poor conditions that "prison is not a hotel," according to footage from that visit. Since taking office in late 2022, the minister has moved to tighten detention conditions through policies of starvation, medical neglect, torture and solitary confinement.

Around 9,500 Palestinian prisoners are held in Israeli jails, including 94 women and more than 350 children. Palestinian and Israeli human rights reports indicate the detainees suffer from starvation, torture and medical neglect.