Israeli minister sparks outrage by suggesting Gazans could be left to starve

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has suggested that allowing two million Gazans to go hungry could be morally justified
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Finance chief Bezalel Smotrich says allowing two million Gazans to go without food could be a way to defeat Hamas

The US and several other Western nations have expressed outrage after Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated that allowing Gaza’s entire population to go hungry could be morally justified as a means of fighting Hamas.

Earlier this week, Smotrich publicly complained that it was impossible for Israel to wage war in today’s realities, and that “no one in the world would let us starve two million citizens, even though it may be just and moral until they [Hamas] return our hostages.”

In a statement to the Times of Israel, the US State Department said it was “appalled by these comments,” calling them “harmful and disturbing.”

The statement also noted that US President Joe Biden and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken have repeatedly stressed “the need to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza” and remove any obstacles to the flow of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave.

EU Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell expressed outrage at Smotrich’s comments, noting that the starving of civilians constitutes a “war crime” and that advocating for it was “beyond ignominious.”

“We expect the Israeli government to unequivocally distance itself from the words of Minister Smotrich,” which “demonstrates, once again, his contempt for international law and for basic principles of humanity,” Borrell said. 

The UK’s new foreign minister, David Lammy, joined the chorus of condemnation, writing on X that “there can be no justification for Minister Smotrich’s remarks” and urging the “wider Israeli government to retract and condemn them.”

The French Foreign Ministry expressed “deep astonishment” at the remarks, calling them “disgraceful.”

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The Palestinian Foreign Ministry responded to Smotrich’s suggestion by calling on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant for the Israeli minister, and urging countries around the world to ban him from entering their territories.

The ministry described the comments as an “explicit admission of adopting and bragging about the policy of genocide” in Gaza, and that such a statement is “considered a direct disregard for international legitimacy decisions and international consensus on protecting civilians and securing their basic humanitarian needs.”

Smotrich himself has dismissed the international criticism, arguing that his statement was taken out of context and misunderstood.  He insisted that he does not advocate for starving Palestinians, but believes that further aid to Gaza should be conditioned on the release of the hostages held by Hamas.

“I fully stand by my statement,” Smotrich said. “If there are attempts to misconstrue my words, I believe I have provided a clear and unambiguous explanation of my intended meaning.”