Israel’s National Security Minister MK Itamar Ben-Gvir demanded in a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Council chairman Tzahi Hanegby that the government approve for legislation a bill to introduce the death penalty for Hamas terrorists who participated in the Oct. 7 massacre.

Ben-Gvir, chairman of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, wrote that “the answer to Hamas murdering our hostages requires an Israeli response that will be very painful to Hamas. The Death Penalty Law … can definitely serve as such a response.”

Ben-Gvir demanded that the issue appear on the agenda of Sunday afternoon’s National Security Cabinet meeting, which was convened instead of the usual weekly meeting of the full government following the return of the hostages’ bodies.

The bill already passed its preliminary vote in the Knesset plenum in March 2023 but requires approval of the National Security Cabinet to proceed.
A discussion and a vote in the assembly hall of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on March 1, 2023 (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)
A discussion and a vote in the assembly hall of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on March 1, 2023 (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)
Ben-Gvir also demanded in his letter that the IDF implement a “general lockdown” of the West Bank that includes security checkpoints outside its towns and cities.
According to Ben-Gvir, such a lockdown occurred after the October 7 massacre, but the barriers were gradually removed.

Palestinians move freely from the West Bank 

Palestinians in the West Bank can travel “almost freely,” and this has led to a “threat on settlers’ lives.”
The lockdown request came after three police officers were killed in a shooting attack near the Tarqumiyah crossing in the Hebron area.