Ben-Gvir backs Gaza, West bank migration and new settlements in Lebanon, also vows to crush attackers
Far-right Itamar Ben-Gvir backs migration plan in Gaza and new settlements in West Bank. PHOTO: ANADOLU AGENCY
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Thursday that the government plans to establish illegal settlements in Lebanon and displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.
The remarks came during Ben-Gvir’s participation in an event in Jerusalem marking the anniversary of Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem according to the Hebrew calendar, Israel’s Channel 7 reported.
“We have more plans to encourage migration from Gaza, encourage migration from Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), and settlement in Lebanon, and we will not fear eliminating everyone who rises up to kill us,” Ben-Gvir said.
Israel continues daily violations of the ceasefire in Gaza, in effect since October 2025, where at least 857 people have been killed and 2,486 others injured. Israel also keeps breaching a truce in Lebanon, which runs through May 17, killing 2,896 and injuring 8,824 others since March 2.
Ben-Gvir also boasted about the harsh restrictions he imposed on Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons after referring to legislation he promoted in March allowing the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners.
Israeli prisons “have become real prisons,” he said. “No jam or chocolate, no academic studies, no deposits, no television or radio. They are left only with the bare minimum.”
On March 30, the Israeli Knesset approved a law allowing the execution of Palestinian prisoners by a vote of 62-48, with one abstention, amid celebrations among right-wing parties.
Following the vote, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination called on Israel to “immediately” repeal the law.
The legislation authorises death sentences by hanging for Palestinian prisoners whom Israel claims carried out or planned attacks that killed Israelis.
The law also allows courts to impose death sentences without a request from the prosecution and without requiring a unanimous judicial decision, permitting approval by a simple majority.
More than 9,600 Palestinian prisoners, including children and women, are currently held in Israeli prisons, where they face torture, starvation, and medical neglect that have led to the deaths of dozens, according to Palestinian and Israeli rights groups.
