‘I want to kill you’: Ben Gvir films himself berating terrorist behind deadly 1996 bus bombings

Police minister boasts of making Hamas member Hassan Salamah's life 'hell,' amid a series of videos of him bragging about worsening conditions for Palestinian security inmates

By Noam Lehmann and ToI Staff Today, 6:59 am
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir seen berating Hassan Salamah, a Hamas terrorist jailed for orchestrating a pair of 1996 Jerusalem bus explosions that killed 45 people, in a video posted to social media on September 27. 2026. (Screenshots/Itamar Ben Gvir via X)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on Sunday posted a video of himself berating Hassan Salamah, a Hamas terrorist jailed for orchestrating a pair of 1996 Jerusalem bus explosions that killed 45 people, telling him: “I want to put you to death.”

Ben Gvir has repeatedly posted videos of himself taunting Palestinian inmates and touting his policy of worsening their prison conditions. Some of the videos have been removed amid criticism from rights groups and the Central Elections Committee saying they constitute illegal use of government facilities for election propaganda.

Ben Gvir, flanked by armed masked guards, says he feels “closure” because he protested as a teenager against the bus attacks Salamah orchestrated and now, as an adult, he can “lead a policy that has turned his life into hell.”

He tells Salamah in the video: “These are the [prison] conditions I gave you. But it’s not the end. I want to kill you. I want to put you to death.”

Ben Gvir has successfully passed legislation instituting the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of deadly terrorist acts, though nobody has been executed under it yet, and some observers say it will not be used in practice.

Ben Gvir adds that Salamah will go to hell in the afterlife, “but here, I’m responsible for hell.”

Last year, Ben Gvir posted a video of himself taunting and threatening prominent Palestinian terror convict Marwan Barghouti, drawing an outraged reaction from the Palestinian Authority.

In March, the Central Elections Committee determined that videos that featured Ben Gvir touring a prison and a police boat constituted illicit use of the security forces for an election campaign.

A similar ruling was made in June regarding Ben Gvir’s highly controversial video of himself tormenting activists detained from a Gaza-bound flotilla in May. That video sparked international outrage and condemnations from across the Israeli political spectrum.

Since Ben Gvir took up his position international and even Israeli government watchdogs have alleged widespread abuse in the Israeli prison system including severe and systematic violence from prison guards, deprivation of food, and medical neglect.

The Israel Prison Service denies the charges and says that it provides all legally mandated rights to the prisoners.

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