Ben Gvir said that not only does he not apologise for comments he made, but is ‘proud of what [he] did’ [Getty]
Israel’s former national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir refused to apologise to freed Israeli captives who claim his comments hailing the torturing of Palestinian prisoners worsened their treatment while in captivity.
Responding to the accusations, Ben-Gvir said: “Not only do I not apologise, I’m proud of what I did,” before blaming the media for “echoing Hamas propaganda,” in an interview with Israel’s Channel 13.
The former minister, who resigned from his role due to the Gaza truce being agreed in January, also questioned if Israel should have avoided striking Gaza and discussing striking it publicly, after a freed captive said Israeli bombardment caused Hamas to beat him.
The former captive added that in one particular instance, one of his captors had beaten him after finding out an airstrike had destroyed his family home.
Eli Sharabi, who was released on 8 February, told Channel 12’s Uvda programme that captors regularly followed the news and monitored the condition of Palestinian prisoners.
“Every irresponsible statement, we’re the first ones to suffer [the consequences],” Sharabi told the media.
“They come to us and tell us, ‘They aren’t giving our prisoners food, you won’t eat. They’re beating our prisoners, we’ll beat you. They aren’t letting them shower, you won’t get to shower.’”
Sharabi’s accusations echo Eliya Cohen’s, another former captive who confirmed that Ben-Gvir’s statements about the plight of Palestinian prisoners resulted in worse conditions for them.
During his time as security minister, Ben-Gvir campaigned against providing “luxury items” in prisons, banning fresh pita bread from being served, and limiting shower times.
Following 7 October, he ordered new restrictions including removing beds as well as other measures which caused overcrowding.
He also called for the detainees to be executed and appeared to boast about the conditions the Palestinians are kept in.
Since the ceasefire deal began on 19 January, 25 living captives and eight bodies have returned to Israel, while over 2,000 Palestinian detainees have been freed.
Freed Palestinians have shown signs of torture, starvation, and severe medical neglect, which rights groups say is evidence of the ongoing torturing of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor documented harrowing physical and psychological conditions of recently freed Palestinian prisoners, who arrived in Gaza “in exceptionally poor health.”
Israel holds over 10,000 Palestinians in prison, with over 3000 being held in administrative detention without charge.
