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Israel’s far right national security minister is facing a major backlash over the construction of a gallows site to execute Palestinians sentenced to death at a prison in Israel.

Itamar Ben-Gvir posted a video online showing the construction of the facility in an unidentified location, which will include viewing booths for the family members of victims to witness executions.

It follows the passage of a highly controversial “Death Penalty for Terrorists Law” earlier this year that made death by hanging a default sentence for Palestinians convicted in ​military courts of deadly attacks.

The law applies to Israelis convicted of murder whose attacks are aimed at “ending Israel’s existence”. Critics say this will mete out ​the death penalty for Palestinians but not for Jewish Israelis who ​committed similar crimes.

Ben-Gvir and his far right Otzma Yehudit party have campaigned to create “abominable” conditions for Palestinian prisoners.

The far-right minister has repeatedly called for harsher conditions against Palestinians prisoners (Getty)

“I promised to worsen the conditions of terrorists in prisons — we kept [this promise],” said Ben-Gvir in a post on Telegram. “I promised to pass the death penalty for terrorists — we did. And now the death row and hanging facility are also starting to take shape.”

Human rights groups have strongly criticised the inclusion of a viewing platform to watch executions as they take place.

Asim Qureshi, a research director at CAGE international, told The Independent that it was “another example of the depravity” that had become embedded in Israeli politics, that he said had “completely dehumanised Palestinian life”.

He warned that the move could have a toxic impact on the collective Israeli conscience, particularly following Ben-Gvir’s public call for the killing of “30 to 40” people in Gaza every night.

Last week, Ben-Gvir promised Rom Braslavski, a former Israeli soldier who Hamas held hostage in Gaza, that he would do everything possible to allow him to execute Palestinians, after Braslavski said he wanted to kill them with his “own hands”.

Ben-Gvir told Braslavski that seeing him do so would be “one of my greatest dreams.”

The backlash has not been limited to human rights groups. An op-ed published by the conservative Jerusalem Post said that the execution facility would as “hand Israel’s enemies ammunition.”

Netanyahu has staunchly refused to remove Ben-Gvir from office (Reuters)

It went on to argue that Ben-Gvir’s rhetoric would not be backed by wider Israeli society, saying that “reasonable people do not glorify executions, take public joy in them, or circulate videos of gallows under construction”.

The rhetoric of Israel’s far right has come under increasing scrutiny since the United Nations last year found that it had committed genocide in Gaza.

Politicians like Ben-Gvir have become more popular among Israelis since Hamas’ brutal attack on October 7, 2023, when the militants killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostage.

But Ben-Gvir has consistently sparked outrage with increasingly controversial antics, including celebrating with champagne after the death penalty vote was passed in the Knesset – or eating a birthday cake iced with gallows. Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to remove him from office.