Israeli minister threatens Palestinians with death penalty by ‘electric chair’ amid surging tensions

Speaking at a meeting of his extremist party, Ben-Gvir vowed to push the Israeli parliament, known as the Knesset, to pass a bill to use the electric chair death penalty for Palestinians involved in retaliatory operations and attacks against Israeli military forces and settlers.

“Anyone who murders, harms, and slaughters civilians should be sent to the electric chair,” Ben-Gvir said.

The far-right Israeli minister also said he had called for the imposition of a curfew on Palestinian neighborhoods that pose a threat to Israel and the apprehension of those holding weapons.

The threat was made as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday vowed a “strong, swift and precise” response to the latest retaliatory attacks and said his cabinet, comprised of a group of hardline politicians, had decided to expedite gun permits for Israeli people to defend against Palestinian street attacks.

Netanyahu also said more soldiers and police would be deployed in the occupied territories, and security forces would embark on a series of operations to gather intelligence, confiscate illegal firearms, and carry out arrests.

Tension has flared up in the occupied Palestinian territories in recent days. In a shooting operation carried out on Friday near a synagogue in an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied al-Quds seven illegal settlers were killed and 10 others wounded. Two illegal settlers were also injured in another shooting attack in the same area on Saturday.

On Thursday, the Israeli regime’s forces raided the city of Jenin and its neighboring refugee camp in the north of the occupied West Bank, gunning down nine Palestinians.

Palestinian resistance groups have hailed the retaliatory operation near the synagogue, describing it as a “direct response” to the deadliest Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank in years.

The Israeli raid comes in the context of recent escalations that have been on the rise, especially in light of the new extremist far-right cabinet headed by Netanyahu and his extremist affiliates.

Over the past months, Israel has ramped up attacks on Palestinian towns and cities throughout the occupied territories. As a result of these attacks, dozens of Palestinians have lost their lives and many others have been arrested.

Most of the raids have focused on Nablus and Jenin, where Israeli forces have been trying to stifle a growing Palestinian resistance in the occupied cities.

More than 170 Palestinians, including at least 30 children, were killed across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem last year. In January 2023 alone, at least 38 Palestinians including five children have been killed.

The United Nations marked 2022 as the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank in 16 years.