Ben Gvir suggests Israel bomb aid depots in Gaza, threaten to execute prisoners

Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben Gvir praises Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his decision halt the entry of aid into Gaza, but demands that he go even further and bomb existing aid depots in the Palestinian enclave in order to “suffocate Hamas and make it surrender and return all our hostages.”

“To make this happen, Gaza must endure hell. And hell also means bombing all the aid depots that Hamas holds” as well as halting the supply of electricity and water, Ben Gvir tells reporters ahead of his party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset.

“I call on the prime minister to announce that Israel will take these steps, before returning to fighting, which of course must also happen,” he says. Doing so “will cause mass starvation of Hamas terrorists and their supporters in the Gaza Strip and will allow us to return to war with tremendous force, when Hamas terrorists are weak and exhausted, without any significant ability to fight back — and we can crush them without difficulty.”

Ben Gvir says this carries risks, including that Hamas may harm the hostages it still holds. As such, Israel must inform Hamas that “harming an Israeli hostage will be met with the execution of terrorists in Israeli prisons through emergency regulations, and the permanent imposition of sovereignty over large areas in the Gaza Strip.”

“These are not trivial steps for those who hold progressive values, but for the only Jewish state in the Middle East surrounded by a host of enemies who seek its destruction, these are necessary steps for its continued existence,” he insists.

Asked by a reporter if he would provide Netanyahu’s coalition with a safety net if the ultra-Orthodox parties oppose the 2025 state budget, Ben Gvir replies that he won’t say what he will do until the Haredim know themselves what they plan to do.