Allies slam Israeli minister’s suggestion that starving Gaza might be justified

(Maya Alleruzzo/AP)

Israel’s Western allies have condemned remarks by the country’s far-right finance minister, who suggested that causing the starvation of Gaza’s population of more than two million Palestinians “might be just and moral” until hostages captured in Hamas’s attack on southern Israel are returned home.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in a speech on Monday that Israel has no choice but to send humanitarian aid into Gaza.