Who is prisoner Hassan Salama, threatened with death by Ben-Gvir?

Extremist Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has brought Palestinian prisoner Hassan Salameh back into the spotlight after a video emerged showing him inside his cell, where Ben-Gvir issued a direct threat of killing and execution, telling him: “I want to kill you… I want to execute you.”

Salameh, born on August 9, 1971, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, is one of the prominent leaders of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. Israeli occupation forces arrested him in the city of Hebron in 1996 after he was shot during his arrest. In 1997, a court sentenced him to 48 life terms plus an additional 30 years, equivalent to 4,782 years in prison, making him one of the prisoners serving the longest sentences among those sentenced to life imprisonment.

During his years of imprisonment, Salameh spent approximately 14 years in solitary confinement in two separate periods, before his isolation ended following the prisoners’ strike in 2012. According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, Salameh was arrested on May 17, 1996, in Hebron after being shot by Israeli occupation forces, and was subsequently transferred to a hospital. He underwent interrogation for about four months following his arrest, and in 1997, he was sentenced to 48 life terms plus an additional 30 years, making him one of the Palestinians with the longest sentences.

By September 2026, Salameh will have spent approximately 30 years behind bars since his arrest in May 1996. Salameh joined the ranks of Hamas during the First Intifada and later progressed within its military apparatus to become one of the leaders of the al-Qassam Brigades. His activities extended from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank before his arrest in Hebron in 1996.

Since the outbreak of the war on the Gaza Strip, Salameh has been returned to solitary confinement at the Ganot prison in the Negev desert, with repeated transfers between isolation units. In July 2026, a message attributed to Salameh was released from inside Ganot’s isolation wing, describing harsh detention conditions, frequent searches, and repeated assaults, in addition to the deterioration of his health.

Throughout his years of imprisonment, his family has been allowed to visit him only twice. Salameh married in 2010 to Palestinian prisoner Ghafran Zamil, who was later released.