Ben-Gvir unveils hanging facility and viewing booths for Palestinian detainees

‘Israeli’ National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has unveiled the construction of a hanging facility and viewing booths inside a prison wing in central ‘Israel’, designed for Palestinian detainees sentenced to death under a law passed earlier this year.

In a video released on Tuesday, Ben-Gvir stood near the partially built structure of wood and metal under a blue tent.

“I promised to worsen the conditions of [detainees] in prisons – we kept it,” he said. “I promised to pass the Death Penalty for Terrorists Law – we did. And now the death row and hanging facility are also starting to take shape.”

He added: “We are making history. Our [detainees] deserve only one thing – death by hanging.”

The facility forms part of an already-constructed death-row wing and will include observation booths so that relatives of those killed can watch the hangings, “as is customary in many countries,” according to Ben-Gvir’s office.

Visitor permits will be available for members of “bereaved families,” according to Hebrew media 

The death-penalty legislation, advanced by Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party, passed its final Knesset readings in March by a 62–48 vote and was later incorporated into West Bank military regulations.

It mandates hanging as the default punishment for Palestinians convicted in military courts of acts defined as terrorism that cause death, with executions to be carried out within 90 days of a final judgment.

Critics note that the military courts that try Palestinians have conviction rates exceeding 95 percent and often rely on confessions obtained under harsh conditions.

Palestinian rights groups and international observers have long described the law as discriminatory, noting that it effectively targets Palestinians while ‘Israel’ maintains a dual legal system in the occupied territories.

More than 9,000 Palestinians remain in ‘Israeli’ detention, including thousands held without charge under administrative detention.

Human rights organizations have documented dozens of deaths in custody since October 2023 amid reports of medical neglect, overcrowding and punitive measures.

Ben-Gvir, a far-right settler politician with a history of anti-Arab rhetoric, has repeatedly celebrated the measure, previously wearing noose-shaped pins and posting videos glorifying hangings. Palestinian officials and advocates have condemned the facility as a further escalation of collective punishment and a violation of international norms against the death penalty and cruel treatment.

The announcement comes as petitions challenging the law’s constitutionality remain before ‘Israel’s’ High Court, with ‘Israeli’-Arab lawmakers joining arguments that it violates the rights to life, equality and due process.