Netanyahu suspends Israeli minister over Gaza nuclear ‘option’ comment
Palestinians carry a body after the Israeli bombardment in the Maghazi refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, Picture AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)
A far-right Israeli minister has said that Israel should consider using nuclear weapons in Gaza, and the Palestinian people there should "go to Ireland or deserts."
Amihai Eliyahu is a member of the far-right Otzma Yehudit, or 'Jewish Power' party, one of the parties in Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
He has since been suspended from his position as Israel's Jerusalem affairs and heritage minister.
He had not been part of the Israeli government's security cabinet, and according to the , he does not hold any sway as regards its decision-making in the ongoing conflict with Hamas.
Speaking in a radio interview, Eilyahu said using a nuclear weapon in Gaza should be "one of the possibilities."
Asked about the fate of the Palestinian people, he said they can "go to Ireland or deserts, the monsters in Gaza should find a solution by themselves.”
He also said he was not in favour of allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza, saying: "We wouldn’t hand the Nazis humanitarian aid."
Eliyahu went on to claim that Gaza had no right to exist and that anyone waving a Palestinian or Hamas flag “shouldn’t continue living on the face of the earth.”
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu subsequently suspended Eliyahu from cabinet, saying his remarks were "detached from reality."
"Israel and the IDF [Israel Defence Forces] 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," he said.
Yoav Gallant, Israel's defence minister, said it was "a good thing that people like this are not in charge of Israel's security."
Opposition leader Yai Lapid of the centrist Yesh Atid party called Eliyahu's comments "horrifying and insane" and "irresponsible."
He called for Benjamin Netanyahu to fire Eliyahu.
Later on Sunday, Eliyahu appeared to walk back his statement, saying it was "metaphorical."
"A strong and disproportionate response to terrorism is definitely required, which will clarify to the Nazis and their supporters that terrorism is not worthwhile," he wrote on Twitter/X.
"This is the only formula that democratic states can use to deal with terrorism."
The Palestinian Authority labelled Eliyahu a "fascist" and said his remarks about using nuclear weapons in Gaza were "an honest declaration and clear acknowledgment of what the occupying state [Israel] is doing against our people, particularly in Gaza."
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