Tel Aviv, April 19 (RHC)-- Itamar Ben Gvir, a notorious far-right Israeli minister, has called for the execution of Palestinian prisoners to ease overcrowding in the jails.  The minister said in a social media post on Thursday that applying the death penalty to Palestinian detainees was the “right” solution to tackle the problem of prison overcrowding.

"The death penalty is the right solution to the incarceration problem, until then - glad that the government approved the proposal I brought."

The remarks came after the Israeli authorities approved his proposal to build about 936 additional prison places to hold Palestinian prisoners.  "The additional construction will allow the prison service to take in more Palestinians, and will bring a partial solution to the prison crisis that exists in the Shabak," Ben Gvir said, referring to the Israeli Prison Service.

Ben-Gvir had already called for the daily execution of the longest-serving Palestinian prisoners in exchange for every day a captive is not released in Gaza.   In a statement, the Gaza media office has said over 5,000 Palestinians had been abducted by Israeli forces during their ongoing savage military campaign in the besieged Palestinian territory.  The office also said that Palestinian prisoners were undergoing "the worst kinds of torture" in Israeli jails.

Palestinian rights group Addameer said in a statement on Wednesday that Israel was holding 9,500 Palestinian political prisoners, not including those taken from the besieged Gaza Strip.  Palestinians have called on Israel to promptly reveal undisclosed detention centers and give information on the identities of individuals captured from the Gaza Strip.

"The date of October 7th marked a significant turning point that imposed radical transformations on the reality of prisoners and detainees in Israeli occupation prisons," the statement read.  "This was reflected across all dimensions related to this issue, in light of the comprehensive aggression against our people and their detainees, and the ongoing genocide against our people in Gaza for over six consecutive months."

The Israeli authorities earlier said in a report that some Israeli prisons have been declared to be in a state of emergency due to severe overcrowding.  The report said that it had witnessed an “unprecedented prison crisis, in which detainees and prisoners were crowded into inhumane living spaces”.

Israel has arrested thousands of Palestinians since 7 October. Those detained, often without charge, describe regular beatings and a solitary daily meal designed simply to keep them alive.   

Palestinians taken prisoner or hostage from both the West Bank and Gaza have given testimonies detailing horrific and sadistic abuse and torture by their Israeli jailers including beatings, verbal abuse, sexual abuse and rape, breaking of limbs, burns, being stripped naked, and forced drug taking.