Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has called for the seizure of Lebanese “women and youth” to exert pressure on Hezbollah.
Ben-Gvir made the proposal during a security cabinet meeting on Tuesday, according to Israeli media, as ministers discussed expanding Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon despite a US-mediated ceasefire announced in April.
“Let’s start thinking outside the box about Hezbollah,” Ben-Gvir said, according to the Jerusalem Post. “Conquering territory and killing many terrorists, but also detaining their women and youth and taking them to terrorist prisons. That’s what hurts them the most.”
The comments are seen as an explicit call for collective punishment against Lebanese civilians and family members of Hezbollah fighters. Under international humanitarian law, civilians may not be detained or targeted in order to pressure an armed group.
Ben-Gvir, a convicted extremist who has repeatedly called for harsher measures against Palestinians and Lebanese people, has played a central role in Israel’s prison system since joining Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government. He is a disciple of the outlawed Kach movement who for years displayed a portrait of Baruch Goldstein, the Israeli settler who shot dead 29 Palestinian worshippers in Hebron in 1994.
