Saudi slams Israeli minister’s ‘nuke Gaza’ remarks
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, with which Israel is said to be in talks for normalisation of ties under US mediation, condemned Eliyahu’s “extremist” suggestion.
JERUSALEM: An Israeli minister from the far-right Otzma Yehudit party on Sunday said that dropping an atomic bomb on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip was “an option”, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to suspend him from government meetings indefinitely. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, with which Israel is said to be in talks for normalisation of ties under US mediation, condemned Eliyahu’s “extremist” suggestion.
In a radio interview, Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said “there are no non-combatants in Gaza” and providing humanitarian aid to the Strip would constitute “a failure”. When asked if there are no non-combatants in Gaza in his view then if a nuclear attack on the Gaza Strip is “an option”, Eliyahu responded, “That’s one way.” His remarks infuriated members of both the ruling coalition and the Opposition, evoking calls to fire him from the government.
Following the uproar, Eliyahu backtracked from his statement, calling it a “metaphorical” remark. Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said the minister’s comment “shows to what extent extremism and brutality have penetrated the Israeli government”, the Times of Israel newspaper reported. The fact that Eliyahu was only suspended and not immediately fired “reflects the Israeli government’s disregard for all values of humanity, morality, religion and law”, the report said.
Jets strike Gaza refugee camp as Israel rejects US pause push
Israeli warplanes struck a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip early Sunday, killing at least 40 people and wounding dozens, health officials said. The strike came as Israel said it would press on with its offensive to crush the territory’s Hamas rulers, despite US appeals for a pause to get aid to desperate civilians. Israel has rejected the idea of halting its offensive, even for brief humanitarian pauses proposed by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his current tour of the region. Gaza’s Health Ministry said more than 9,700 Palestinians have been killed in the territory in nearly a month of war, and that number is likely to rise as Israeli troops advance into dense, urban neighbourhoods. Airstrikes hit the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza overnight, killing at least 40 people and wounding 34 others, the Health Ministry said. It said first responders and residents were still digging through the rubble, hoping to find survivors.
