Anyone who supports Hamas should be eliminated: Israeli minister

JERUSALEM

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said that anyone who supports Hamas should be “eliminated.”

During an interview with the Israeli Channel 12, Ben-Gvir said “To be clear, when they say that Hamas needs to be eliminated, it also means those who sing, those who support and those who distribute candy, all of these are terrorists.”

“They should all be eliminated,” the minister added.

Ben-Gvir, who has recently come to the fore with his distribution of weapons to civilians throughout Israel and to Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, is known for his Jewish supremacist views.

According to Israeli media reports, approximately 25,000 weapons, as well as ammunition and other war materials, were purchased from Israeli arms companies as part of Ben-Gvir's campaign to arm civilians and settlers.

He also shared photos of people detained in front of the Israeli flag, handcuffed, due to their social media posts following the events on Oct. 7.

Ben-Gvir was a former member of the racist Kahane movement, which Israel banned in 1998 for terrorist acts and the US designated as a terrorist organization.

He was also exempted from military service due to the radical nature of his beliefs.

Moreover, 53 indictments were prepared for charges against the Israeli minister such as "hate, provocative speech and racism.”

He was convicted of "racism and supporting a terrorist organization" in 2007.

Ben-Gvir was appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the Ministry of National Security, responsible for law enforcement in the country.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi