Israel’s far-right minister Ben-Gvir extends visitor ban for Palestinian prisoners
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has signed an order banning all visits to Palestinian prisoners for another month, extending a ban that has been in place since Israel launched its war on Gaza.
In a post on social media, Ben-Gvir said: “The damned terrorists deserve the minimum provided by law”.
“This is how I act and this is how I will continue to act,” he wrote.
Palestinian prisoners, thousands of whom are held without charge or trial, have not received visits since October 2023, according to reports, as Ben-Gvir has extended his ban on visits for 10 consecutive months.
“Under Ben-Gvir’s orders, the already grave conditions in Israeli prisons have been made even worse,” Qadura Fares, head of the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs in Palestine, wrote last week.
“The use of torture, including rape and beatings, has become widespread. There have been shocking reports about prison guards urinating on detainees, torturing them with electric shock and using dogs to sexually assault them,” he said.
“The systemic use of torture and other ill-treatment has predictably gone as far as extrajudicial killings.”
Israel’s Ofer military prison located between Ramallah and Baytunia in the occupied West Bank in November 2023
