Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has called for the killing of '30 or 40' Palestinians in Gaza every night, a remark that has drawn widespread condemnation from German officials and religious leaders.

In comments made to Rom Braslavski, a former Israeli captive, in a podcast episode that surfaced on Sunday, Ben-Gvir said Israeli forces should go beyond targeting those who pose an immediate danger. "There are people there who are not worthy of life. They shouldn't live. They're not even people," he said, according to Al Jazeera. Deutsche Welle reported that Ben-Gvir emphasized he was not referring only to militants, adding that some people in the Gaza Strip do not deserve to live.

Ben-Gvir's Remarks and Background

Ben-Gvir, a far-right politician in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government, sits on Israel's security cabinet, a group of senior ministers who help shape war and security policy. However, he has no formal authority over the military and cannot order strikes himself, as reported by Al Jazeera.

In the same interview, Ben-Gvir disagreed with Netanyahu's decision to scale back military strikes in Gaza under the current ceasefire, arguing instead for renewed targeted assassinations that would go beyond people considered active threats. He also promised Braslavski that he would seek to allow him to personally take part if prisoners are executed under Israel's recently enacted death penalty law for Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks.

Ben-Gvir has previously called for Palestinians to be encouraged to leave Gaza permanently, saying he saw 'all of Gaza as ours,' and has championed the death penalty as a default sentence for Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks. He has also boasted of worsening prison conditions for Palestinian detainees, according to Al Jazeera.

Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,250 people in Gaza since the ceasefire took hold in October, according to Gaza's Ministry of Health, as cited by Al Jazeera.

Ben-Gvir has been sanctioned by the United Kingdom and some European Union states, but these measures have not affected his actions, Al Jazeera reported.

German Condemnation

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned Ben-Gvir's statements on Wednesday through a government spokesperson in Berlin. "The chancellor strongly condemns Minister Ben-Gvir's inhumane statements, which violate international law — they are unacceptable," the spokesperson said, according to Deutsche Welle. Merz is officially on vacation.

The spokesperson also criticized Israel's plans to accelerate settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, saying Merz is following developments 'with great concern.' The spokesperson said there must be no further steps toward annexation, adding: 'As the occupying power, Israel must treat Palestinians with dignity, protect their property and ensure public administration and humanitarian aid.'

Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil, also Finance Minister, had already called for consequences on Tuesday, telling private TV station Sat1 that 'these are statements that we, as the federal government, cannot accept in any way.' He said sanctions are being discussed at the European level and stressed that Germany must not remain silent, adding that a line has 'truly been crossed.'

The German response has included calls for concrete measures from across the political spectrum. Hildegard Bentele, a CDU member of the European Parliament, said she had been calling for EU sanctions against Ben-Gvir for a year. Jürgen Hardt, the conservative foreign policy spokesperson, also supports EU sanctions, saying he is convinced that an Israeli Cabinet without Ben-Gvir would bring Europe and Israel closer together again. Green Party leader Franziska Brantner has called for an entry ban and EU sanctions, while Lea Reisner of the Left Party has called for a halt to all German arms exports to Israel.

Several countries, including Australia, France, the UK, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, and the Netherlands, have already imposed entry bans on Ben-Gvir, as reported by Deutsche Welle.

Religious leaders in Germany have also spoken out. Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, called Ben-Gvir's comments 'deeply shameful and irresponsible,' saying they are diametrically opposed to Jewish values. Kirsten Fehrs, chair of the Council of the Protestant Church in Germany, described the statements as an 'attack on humanity.'