Israeli Security Minister Ben-Gvir appoints relatives of slain Israelis as prison inspectors: Reports

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Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, during a news conference at the Knesset in Jerusalem, Israel, on, 05 February , 2024 [Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg via Getty Images]

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has decided to appoint relatives of slain Israelis as official prison inspectors in a move aimed at tightening detention conditions for Palestinian detainees, Israeli media reported Wednesday.

“The minister’s goal is to worsen the conditions of security prisoners,” people close to Ben-Gvir said, according to Israel’s Channel 12.

Israel uses the term “security prisoners” to refer to Palestinian detainees.

According to the broadcaster, Ben-Gvir decided to appoint the family members as official visitors and inspectors of Palestinian prisoners instead of qualified professionals.

“Minister Ben-Gvir reduced the number of inspectors to fewer than 20, and instead appointed bereaved families,” the channel said.

The inspectors are responsible for overseeing prisoners and monitoring their detention conditions and treatment inside Israeli prisons.

READ: Ben Gvir attacks Trump-Iran deal: Israel ‘not bound by US agreement’

The move drew criticism in Israel, with political sources describing it as “a crazy decision that violates the law and will harm international relations,” Channel 12 reported.

“With all due respect to the bereaved families, ultimately they are not an official or professional body,” the channel quoted former senior officials in the Israel Prison Service as saying.

The former officials warned that the move could trigger international criticism and escalate tensions inside and outside prisons.

Since taking office in late 2022, Ben-Gvir has moved to tighten detention conditions for Palestinian prisoners, including through policies that rights groups describe as food deprivation and medical neglect.

The Israeli rights group Physicians for Human Rights-Israel said Tuesday that Palestinian prisoner Imad Sarhan faced medical neglect and was not examined for more than two and a half years before his death on Saturday at Gilboa Prison.

According to the group, Sarhan suffered from several health conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.

Sarhan’s death raised the number of Palestinian prisoners who have died in Israeli prisons since Oct. 7, 2023, to 104, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

Around 9,500 Palestinian prisoners, including women and children, are being held in Israeli prisons and face starvation, torture and medical neglect that have led to the deaths of dozens of detainees, according to Palestinian and Israeli rights reports.

READ: Extremist Israeli minister ‘stepped on prisoners’ heads’ during Ofer Prison raid, rights group says

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Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
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Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
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Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.

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