National Security Minister Meets Hamas Terrorist in Prison

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited Hamas terrorist Hassan Salameh in prison, confronting him about his role in deadly 1990s Jerusalem bus bombings. Ben-Gvir, who was 18 and protesting the attacks at the time, told Salameh, "When I was eighteen, I went to demonstrate against the attacks you carried out. On line 18, you killed 48 people. Children, women, old people, soldiers, they are my children."

Ben-Gvir described the meeting, which he posted on X, as a "huge closing of a circle," noting that he, who protested the attacks, now meets the perpetrator as the minister responsible for the prison service. He further told Salameh, "You think you will have virgins? Allah's hell awaits you above, and I am responsible for making hell for you here."

The minister also referenced his efforts to worsen prison conditions for terrorists, stating that the measures taken so far are just the beginning. "This is not the end. I want to kill you. I want to execute you," Ben-Gvir declared to Salameh.

Salameh is serving a life sentence for his involvement in two major attacks in Jerusalem during the 1990s. In 1996, suicide bombers detonated explosives on two line 18 buses in the capital, killing 45 people. Ben-Gvir and his party, Otzma Yehudit, previously advanced a death penalty law for terrorists, which was approved by the Knesset in March. During discussions for the bill, Ben-Gvir and his party members caused controversy by wearing lapel pins shaped like hangman's nooses.