Israeli minister sanctioned after talking about use of nuclear bomb in Gaza

Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: FADEL SENNA / AFP 15:53 p.m., November 05, 2023

An Israeli ultranationalist minister was sanctioned on Sunday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after claiming that using a nuclear bomb against the Gaza Strip in the war against Palestinian Hamas was "an option". Israeli Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu said in a radio interview that he was not entirely satisfied with the scale of Israeli retaliation in the Palestinian territory after the deadly Hamas attack on Israeli soil on October 7.

Asked by a journalist if the solution would be to drop "some kind of nuclear bomb on the entire Gaza Strip, raze it to the ground and kill everyone," the minister replied: "That's an option." And when the journalist pointed out that "destroying the entire Gaza Strip" would also entail a price for Israel to pay, he hinted that he was willing to accept that the lives of more than 240 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza would be endangered. "In a war, there is a price to pay. Why are the lives of the hostages ... more important than those of our soldiers?" he said.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office was quick to respond, denouncing statements that were "out of touch with reality" and adding that the Israeli military was working to spare "non-combatants" in Gaza. Benjamin Netanyahu also suspended the minister's participation in government meetings "until further notice."

Faced with the outcry over his remarks, the minister posted a message on X (formerly Twitter) claiming that his "statement regarding atomic weapons is metaphorical." "But we absolutely need a powerful and disproportionate response to terrorism," he added. He also said in his message on X that Israel pledged "to do everything possible to bring the hostages back safely."

'Irresponsible and cruel'

Eliyahu's statements provoked an outraged reaction from the families of the hostages. The main group representing them denounced the "irresponsible and cruel" remarks. "International law, human morality and common sense strictly prohibit the use of weapons of mass destruction," the group wrote in a statement, stressing that "the top priority of Israel's actions in Gaza" must "be the release of hostages."

Israel, which has never confirmed or denied possessing nuclear weapons, is believed to possess 90 nuclear warheads, according to the latest estimates by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. In his radio statements, Eliyahu also called for the return of Israeli settlers to the Gaza Strip, from where they were evacuated in 2005 during the unilateral withdrawal decided by the Israeli government of Ariel Sharon. "We have to impose a territorial price on them, which means going back to Gush Katif (a former settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip). We need to start dislodging (Palestinians) from the Gaza Strip and making them emigrate to other countries," he said.

In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said in a statement that the Israeli minister's statements reflected "the unprecedented terrorism that this government is carrying out against the Palestinian people." "This government is a danger to the region and to the world," he added.

According to Hamas' latest toll on Saturday, 9,488 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the Gaza Strip in the war sparked by the Palestinian Islamist movement's bloody attack on Israeli soil on October 7. According to Israeli authorities, at least 1,400 people died on the Israeli side, the majority of them civilians killed on the same day as the attack by Hamas, a movement classified as terrorist by Israel but also by the EU and the United States.