Ben Gvir: 100 doctors volunteered to carry out the execution of Palestinian prisoners

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said on Tuesday that 100 doctors have volunteered to carry out the execution of Palestinian prisoners if the bill is passed.

This came according to his statements during a heated debate session of the Knesset (Parliament) National Security Committee on the bill proposed by Ben Gvir to execute any prisoner proven to have participated in the killing of a Jew.

Under the bill, the execution would take place within 90 days of the issuance of the execution decision, using lethal injection.

Ben Gvir said, according to a video clip of the session broadcast on the Telegram platform: "Since the living hostages (prisoners) have returned (from Gaza), there is no excuse or justification for not applying this law."

Despite the Israeli Medical Association previously announcing that it would not participate in implementing the law if it is passed, Ben Gvir said: "More than 100 doctors have submitted requests, and said: We are volunteers to participate in carrying out the death penalty."

He pointed out that "the Israeli General Security Service (Shin Bet) supports the bill and believes that this punishment will increase deterrence."

In response to Ben Gvir, Einat Ovadia, the executive director of the "Zulat" Institute for Equality and Human Rights, said during the session: "You are the last person who can talk about deterrence or governance or security, and the last person to be advised to receive recommendations from him regarding punishment."

Ovadia added: "The death penalty is not a punishment, but murder," to which Ben Gvir responded by saying: "Shame on you, you support the murderers, you support Hamas," according to the same video clip.

In November last year, the Knesset voted in the first reading on a bill to execute Palestinian prisoners, and it still needs to be voted on in the second and third readings before becoming a binding law.

Repeatedly, Ben Gvir has called for the approval of a bill that allows the execution of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, and has significantly tightened the conditions of the detainees, amid an increase in crimes against them and deprivation of their rights.

Among the tightened measures, banning visits and reducing the food allowed for prisoners to obtain, as well as reducing bathing opportunities in prison, according to Palestinian institutions concerned with prisoner affairs.

The preparation for issuing a law to execute prisoners comes while Palestinians suffer the repercussions of a genocide committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip for two years since October 8, 2023, in addition to a bloody and destructive aggression on the occupied West Bank.