Israel sanctions far-right minister who spoke of the “option” of dropping an atomic bomb on Gaza

An ultranationalist minister of Israel was sanctioned on Sunday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after stating that using the nuclear bomb in the Gaza Strip in his war against the Palestinian Islamic group Hamas was “an option”.

The Minister of Heritage, Amichai Eliyahusaid in a radio interview that he was not entirely satisfied with the extent of Israeli retaliation in the Palestinian enclave following the brutal Hamas attack on October 7.

LOOK: Israeli minister guarantees that launching an atomic bomb against Gaza could be an option

To the journalist’s question about whether the solution would be “a kind of nuclear bomb” across the Gaza Strip to “kill everyone”the minister replied: “It’s an option.”

And when the journalist pointed out that this would imply a high price for Israel, Eliyahu hinted that he was willing to put the lives of more than 240 hostages held by Hamas in the enclave at risk.

“In a war, a price has to be paid. Why are the lives of the hostages (..) more important than those of our soldiers?” he said.

Netanyahu’s office reacted quickly and denounced statements “disconnected from reality”. The Israeli military is doing everything possible to avoid attacking “non-combatants” in Gaza, he added.

Netanyahu suspended the minister’s participation in government meetings “until further notice”.

After the scandal caused by his comments, Eliyahu assured in a message on X (formerly Twitter) that his “statement about the atomic weapon was metaphorical”. “But a powerful and disproportionate response to terrorism is entirely necessary,” he added.

According to the latest Hamas report, more than 9,700 people, including 4,800 minors, died in the Gaza Strip in Israeli bombings in retaliation for the Palestinian movement’s attack on Israel on October 7.

In the incursion by Islamic militants, at least 1,400 people died on Israeli soil, most of them civilians, and around 240 were kidnapped.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.