A far-right Israeli minister was denounced by the European Union, France, and the UK on Wednesday for implying that starving two million Gazanians would be “justified and moral” in exchange for the release of several prisoners detained in Palestinian territory.
“No one in the world will allow us to starve two million people, even though it might be justified and moral in order to free the hostages,” Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said at a conference earlier this week.
“We are bringing in humanitarian aid because we have no choice. We are in a situation that requires international legitimacy to conduct this war.”Smotrich’s remarks sparked outrage in the international community, with the European Union saying the deliberate starvation of civilians was a “war crime”.
“It demonstrates, once again, his contempt for international law and for basic principles of humanity,” the EU said in a statement.
“We expect the Israeli government to unequivocally distance itself from the words of Minister Smotrich,” the EU said, as it called for access to cover the humanitarian needs of Gazans, including hundreds of thousands of children.
The EU reaffirmed its demand for a “immediate ceasefire” in order to guarantee the release of all hostages and to expand the assistance flow throughout the Gaza Strip.
France expressed its “deep dismay at the scandalous remarks” in response to Smotrich’s criticism.
It further stated that as Israel controls all access to the region, it has a “duty under international humanitarian law” to provide humanitarian aid to the inhabitants of Gaza.
The UK Foreign Minister, David Lammy, called on “the wider Israeli government to retract and condemn them” after saying on X that there “can be no justification for Minister Smotrich’s remarks”.
The humanitarian situation in the besieged Palestinian region of Gaza, where nearly all 2.4 million people are displaced and facing food shortages, is terrible even after the war began on October 7.
The October 7 strike by Hamas terrorists in Israel resulted in 1,198 dead, the majority of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli numbers. This marked the start of the Gaza war.
In addition, 251 individuals were taken by militants; 111 of them are currently being detained in Gaza, 39 of whom the Israeli military claims are deceased.
According to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave, Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 39,677 individuals. The ministry does not offer information on deaths among civilians or militants.
