National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir received video footage of hostages being tortured by Hamas in Gaza, sources claimed on Sunday, in an attempt to force him to improve conditions for Palestinian security prisoners in Israel.
Two anonymous sources told The Telegraph that the footage had been accompanied by a warning that the worse things were for Palestinian prisoners in Israel, the worse they would be for the hostages in Gaza.
The ultranationalist minister, who has authority over the Israel Prison Service, swiftly denied that he had received any messages from Hamas, however, and said he would not cooperate with the terror group’s propaganda attempts.
In response to the report, the Hostages Families Forum said it highlighted the urgent need to reach a deal as soon as possible.
“There is no need for additional videos to know the obvious: for 296 days now, the hostages have been undergoing physical and mental torture, starved, and held in inhumane conditions,” the forum said in a statement.
“The minister of national security, like the prime minister and all cabinet members, has only one responsibility: to approve a deal NOW! A deal that will allow the release of all 115 hostages, and stop the torture that they and their families are forced to endure,” the statement said.
The treatment of Palestinian security prisoners has been scrutinized in recent months, both from inside Israel and from without, after Ben Gvir authorized a series of strict measures in response to the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught in southern Israel, which critics say have decreased the quality of life for prisoners.
Speaking to the Telegraph, two unnamed Israeli officials alleged that, upon receiving the video of the hostages being tortured, Ben Gvir said it only served to prove that there was a need to crack down on Palestinian prisoners.
“Even after being warned that because of his desire for likes on social media, our hostages are suffering in Gaza and being tortured, he smiled and said he would continue,” the Telegraph quoted an official as saying.
Ben Gvir denied that he had been sent any such video, however, and said he believed the only acceptable way to talk to Hamas was “through a gunsight.”
“The terrorist organization Hamas did not look for any excuse on October 7 to murder, rape, kidnap, and abuse living civilians and even corpses, and even murdered hostages in captivity,” he declared. “Hamas must be defeated, and we must not submit to its dictates that demand surrender: the territory of the Gaza Strip must be occupied permanently, humanitarian aid must be stopped, and it must be defeated.”
Far from denying that conditions for Palestinian inmates had worsened dramatically, Ben Gvir said he was “proud” that this was the case.
“The conditions of terrorists in prisons have indeed worsened and the summer camps have stopped and I am proud of that,” he said. “I have no intention of submitting to the dictates of Hamas.”
One directive issued by the minister in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas massacre allowed for new inmates to be provided with a mattress on the floor, rather than a bed. The measure was temporary, and part of efforts to maximize the holding capacity of already overcrowded prisons.
Accusations of widespread abuse against prisoners were further amplified after the IDF began using the Sde Teiman military facility to house more than 1,000 security prisoners from Gaza. The use of the military complex began facing backlash almost immediately, with human rights groups telling the High Court of Justice that it had become a “lawless black hole where detainees’ basic human rights are stripped away.”
Whistleblowers further told CNN that the detainees were subjected to extreme use of physical restraints, beatings, medical neglect and arbitrary punishments.
The High Court ordered the use of the facility to be phased out earlier this month, in a decision opposed by Ben Gvir, and the IPS began absorbing the detainees who had been held there.
Even prior to October 7, however, the far-right lawmaker, who has claimed that the prisons were being run more like a “summer camp,” faced criticism for passing a series of controversial measures that appeared to serve little purpose other than limiting the freedoms of the prisoners.
Since entering office early in 2023, Ben Gvir sought to crack down on shower times and instructed the removal of ovens used to bake pita bread for the inmates, earning him the monikers “Minister of Pita,” and “Pitamar Ben Gvir” from some of his political opponents.