Hamas is filming videos showing its members torturing Israeli hostages in an attempt to pressure Israel into easing the detention conditions of Palestinian prisoners, The Telegraph reported on Sunday.
According to the report, two Israeli sources said that in one of the videos, Hamas terrorists directly addressed National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, demanding improved conditions for the prisoners.
The Telegraph said that the video shows hostages being abused, with Hamas terrorists warning that the worsening conditions for Palestinian prisoners in Israel affect the hostages' situation in Gaza. A senior Israeli official told the newspaper that when Ben-Gvir was shown the video, he responded that the torture depicted only legitimizes Israel's decision to toughen the conditions for Palestinian prisoners.
“Even after being warned that because of his desire for likes on social media, our hostages are suffering in Gaza and being tortured, he smiled and said he would continue,” a senior Israeli official said.
In response, Ben-Gvir told The Telegraph that he was "not aware" of the allegations, and later issued a formal statement to the Israeli media, reading, "Hamas did not send me any video, and I refuse to cooperate with Hamas propaganda. We should only deal with Hamas through our sights.
"The Hamas terror organization did not seek any excuse on October 7 to murder, rape, abduct and torture civilians, including live captives and corpses, and even killed hostages in captivity. Hamas must be defeated, not succumbed to. We need to permanently conquer the Gaza Strip, stop humanitarian aid and decisively defeat them. The conditions for terrorists in prisons have indeed been toughened, and the summer camps have stopped, which I am proud of. I have no intention of yielding to Hamas' demands."