An ultra-right Israeli minister said that a nuclear bomb should be dropped on Gaza, then suspended
However, the minister announced shortly afterwards on Platform X that his statement about the atomic bomb was metaphorical, and that the response to terrorism must be violent and disproportionate.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly distanced himself from that statement, saying that Minister Eliyahu’s words “have nothing to do with reality.”
“Israel and the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) are acting in accordance with the highest standards of international law to prevent the harm of non-involved people and we will continue to do so all the way to victory.“, Netanyahu said, Israeli media reported.
Netanyahu suspended the minister after the controversial statement.
Eliyahu, the minister in charge of heritage, is not part of the cabinet’s security cabinet that makes decisions in the war, which began on October 7, nor does he have influence over the war cabinet that directs the conflict against Islamic extremist Hamas.
In an interview with the Khan public service, he expressed his opposition to the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, saying “We would not give the Nazis humanitarian aid” and assessing that there are no innocent civilians in Gaza.
Minister Eliyahu supports the re-occupation of Gaza from where the Israeli army withdrew in 2005 and the restoration of Jewish settlements there.
“They can go to Ireland or the deserts, the monsters in Gaza should find a solution for themselvesEliyahu said, adding that the northern part of Gaza has no right to exist, and that anyone who waves the Hamas flag should not continue to live.