The Israeli government on Sunday drew ire after Minister Amichai Eliyahu suggested that dropping nuclear weapons on Gaza is “one of the options” and that no aid should be transferred to Gaza.
Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu, an ultranationalist politician part of Netnayahu’s ruling coalition, told Israel’s Kol Barama radio he was not entirely satisfied with the scale of Israel’s retaliation in the Palestinian territory after Hamas fighters carried out a deadly attack on October 7 inside southern Israel.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza since October 7 has killed 9,488 people, most of them women and children, the Hamas-run health ministry says.
Eliyahu further backed retaking the territory of the Gaza Strip and restoring the settlements there. On being asked about the fate of the Palestinian population, he said, “They can go to Ireland or deserts, the monsters in Gaza should find a solution by themselves.
“The Israeli Minister asserted that the northern Strip has “no right to exist”, adding that anyone waving a Palestinian or Hamas flag “shouldn’t continue living on the face of the earth,” Times of Israel reported.
The remarks were immediately denounced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said that Eliyahu’s words are “detached from reality”. “Israel and the IDF are acting in accordance with the highest standards of international law in order to prevent harm to uninvolved people, and we will continue to do that all the way to victory,” Netanyahu says in a statement.
The premiere’s office also announced that Eliyahu has been suspended from government meetings indefinitely, Times of Israel reported. However, the government ministers raised objections to Eliyahu’s sacking and called the action “meaningless”.
Times of Israel reported citing Channel 12 news that Netanyahu wanted to fire Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, but buckled following opposition from far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
Ben Gvir, who heads the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, of which Eliyahu is a member, told Netanyahu he would “not cooperate with the effort, saying the government should be focusing on destroying Hamas, not “educating ministers,” according to the network. After this, Netanyahu folded.
The Palestinian Authority strongly condemned Eliyahu’s remarks and referred the Israeli minister as “fascist”. “The statements by fascist minister Eliyahu are an honest declaration and clear acknowledgement of what the occupying state [Israel] is doing against our people… particularly in Gaza,” Times of Israel quoted the statement by the Palestinian Foreign Ministry.
The Saudi foreign ministry also condemned the “extremist” suggestion stating that it “shows to what extent extremism and brutality have penetrated the Israeli government.”
“The fact that Eliyahu was only suspended and not immediately fired, the Saudi statement continues, reflects the Israeli government’s disregard for all values of humanity, morality, religion and law,” the Ministry added.
Earlier, former PM and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid lambasted Eliyahu’s assertion calling it “a horrifying and insane remark by an irresponsible minister”. He also demanded Netanyahu to fire him immediately, Times of Israel reported.
“He offended the families of the [241 Gaza] captives, offended Israeli society and harmed our international standing,” Lapid said. He added, “The presence of the extremists in the government endangers us and the success of the war goals — defeating Hamas and returning the hostages. “Netanyahu must fire him this morning.
“After much uproar, Eliyahu tried to walk back from his widely slammed assertion that dropping an atomic bomb on Gaza is one of Israel’s options, posting that “it’s clear to anyone with a brain that the remark about the atom was metaphorical,” Times of Israel reported.
--Agencies
