Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, in a podcast released over the weekend, called for “between 30 and 40” people to be killed each night in targeted killings in the Gaza Strip. Discussing Israel’s response to the Hamas-led terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, which sparked war in Gaza, and Israel’s recent move to reduce the number of attacks carried out in the decimated Palestinian territory, Ben-Gvir said: “It’s no secret, I don’t agree with the prime minister… I think targeted killings should be carried out in Gaza, taking out 30 to 40 every night.” “Not just those who pose an immediate threat,” the Israeli cabinet member added. “There are people there who are not worthy of living. They should not live. They are not even people.” The security chief made the comment to Rom Braslavski, who was previously held hostage in Gaza, on his podcast on Sunday. Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (C) enters the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during the day of Tisha B’Av (the ninth day of Av), which commemorates the destruction of the first and second temples in Jerusalem by the ancient Babylonians and Romans respectively, in Jerusalem, July 23, 2026. ilia YEFIMOVICH/AFP/Getty Israel once had a block of 21 settlements, known as Gush Katif. in the Gaza Strip, but settlers and Israeli forces withdrew from the enclave two decades ago. “I see all of Gaza as ours,” Ben-Gvir said in the recorded interview. “Settlements not only 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 killing them one by one.” Legal experts and the United Nations Secretary-General have warned that any move to force Palestinians to leave Gaza could amount to ethnic cleansing. Israel’s vast settlement network in the occupied West Bank (the other, much larger Palestinian territory) is considered illegal by the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, and many other entities and nations. However, Israel’s current government has encouraged new construction in the West Bank and questions the illegality of most settlements in the territory. “Incitement to violence,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi posted about Ben-Gvir’s comments on Monday X. “These confessions must be recorded and preserved for the day of reckoning and the trial of these criminals,” he wrote. Similar statements by Ben-Gvir and other senior Israeli officials have been presented to the UN as evidence of alleged genocidal intent by the Israeli government in Gaza. The Minister of National Security is no stranger to controversy. In May, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was able to form his coalition government thanks to the support of far-right politicians including Ben-Gvir, publicly rebuked his security minister after a video of Ben-Gvir’s treatment of pro-Palestinian flotilla activists in custody emerged online. Last year, five former US allies (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom) announced sanctions against Ben-Gvir “for inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.” Slovenia, the Netherlands and Spain followed suit later in 2025. This year, Ireland and France banned Ben-Gvir from entering their territory. Ben-Gvir is a follower of Kahanism, a movement named after a long-dead rabbi who embraced violent ethno-nationalism and advocated the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank. The security chief’s first moment in the spotlight came in 1995, when he stole the Cadillac emblem from then-Israeli leader Yitzhak Rabin’s car. Rabin was hated among the Israeli far right for signing the Oslo Peace Accords with the Palestinians. Ben-Gvir held up the license plate to a television camera and said: “As soon as we get to your car, we will catch up.” Rabin was assassinated weeks later by a far-right Jewish nationalist. Ben-Gvir has had numerous run-ins with police and several court appearances, including one during which he was convicted of inciting racism for participating in attacks against Arabs and for supporting a Jewish nationalist terrorist cell. Ben-Gvir has no control over Israel’s military actions, but he runs the country’s prisons and national police, and has boasted of reducing food rations for Palestinian prisoners. Until recently, Israel had been launching attacks in Gaza most days. The attacks have killed more than 1,250 people since a truce went into effect in October, according to health officials in the Hamas-controlled territory. Israel appears to have reined in its attacks in an apparent concession to President Trump, after Netanyahu last week rejected a US-backed peace plan for Gaza. More from CBS News Go deeper with The Free Press in:
