There’s something deeply disturbing about watching a government official beam with pride while unveiling a facility designed to hang human beings. That’s what happened when Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced that Israel is building a new execution facility for its Palestinian prisoners. So what did Ben-Gvir have to say about his project? “We are making history. Terrorists deserve only one thing – death by hanging. I took office promising to stop the ‘summer camps’ in the Prison Service. This has been fully implemented. I promised to legislate a death penalty law for terrorists. This has been carried out. And now the death row and hanging facility are also starting to take shape.” Summer camps? Many would agree that torture camps would be a more fitting description because there have been documented allegations of abuse, torture, starvation, psychological harm and denial of medical treatment involving Palestinian prisoners. The plans for the execution facility stem from a law that Israel recently passed  that makes hanging the default punishment for Palestinians convicted in military courts of deadly attacks against Israelis. But this law seems to single out Palestinians, while Jewish Israelis convicted of killing Palestinians face no equivalent penalty. How many Palestinians are at risk of being sent to the gallows? Israel currently holds around 9,400 Palestinian prisoners, including nearly 100 women and more than 370 minors, according to media reports citing the Palestinian Prisoner Society. With the death penalty law now in effect and an execution facility under construction, will the prisoners receive a fair trial? Will Ben-Gvir, who recently said, “Targeted assassinations should be carried out in Gaza, taking down 30 to 40 every night,” take the time to determine which of the roughly 9,400 Palestinian prisoners are innocent before deciding who should face the gallows? Probably not. Perhaps the most disturbing part isn’t even the execution facility, but the fact that Israel can carry out a genocide, slaughter innocent men, women, and children, all while publicly bragging about it, and still receive unwavering political and financial support. It’s happening in plain sight, and no one in power is lifting a finger to help the thousands of people trapped in Israeli prisons. The post Israel Ramps Up its Execution Plan appeared first on Redacted.