Amihai Eliyahu, the heritage minister of Israel, received backlash for suggesting that dropping a nuclear bomb in Gaza is an option. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Eliyahu’s statement and said that it wasn’t based on reality.
Far-right Israeli coalition government member Amihai Eliyahu faced criticism on November 4 when he said that dropping an atomic bomb on Gaza was “an option” for his nation’s armed forces.
The head of the nation’s heritage ministry, Eliyahu, made the divisive comments in an interview with a local radio station. He asserted in the interview that “there are no non-combatants in Gaza” and that sending relief supplies to the under-siege area would be a “failure.”
Netanyahu’s response regarding Amihai Eliyahu’s statement
The minister indicated that it was “one of the possibilities” in response to a question about whether the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) would consider using the atomic weapon because, in his opinion, there were “no non-combatants” in the vicinity.
The administration distanced itself from the minister’s comments, according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office. “The claims made by Minister Amihai Eliyahu are not grounded in truth. To prevent hurting innocent people, Israel and the IDF are acting in compliance with the strictest international legal norms. We’ll keep doing this until we win,” said Netanyahu.
In a separate statement released on November 5, the prime minister’s office declared that Eliyahu had been barred from cabinet meetings indefinitely.
Amihai Eliyahu’s statement was “metaphorical”
According to Israeli media accounts, the controversial minister is not a member of the security cabinet and was not involved in any way in wartime decision-making.
Notably, Amihai Eliyahu is a member of the political party of Itamar Ben Gvir, the far-right politician who made news earlier this year for conducting raids at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa site.
After his remarks about the use of nuclear weapons garnered criticism, Amihai Eliyahu stated that they were “metaphorical.”
“All reasonable individuals understand that the statement about the atom is symbolic. However, a robust and disproportionate response to terrorism is unavoidable in order to demonstrate to Nazis and their followers that terrorism is not desirable. This is the sole method available to democratic states for dealing with terrorism. At the same time, it is evident that the State of Israel is determined to doing everything in its power to ensure the safe return of the hostages,” he stated on the social networking platform X.
Israeli military’s relentless bombing continues
The IDF has increased its efforts on ground and air operations, targeting hospitals, mosques, and schools. Just recently, the Israeli military bombed a UN school in the Jabalia refugee camp. The school was sheltering thousands of people trying to flee the relentless bombardment from the Israeli military. Currently, the number of deaths is over 9000, of which most are children.
Although most countries around the globe are calling for a ceasefire, Prime Minister Netanyahu says there will be no ceasefire until the hostages are released. Hamas has already released several hostages, including the two elder women, based on medical terms. Yocheved Lifshitz, one of the elderly women who was released on the 23rd of October, told the world of the horror she faced on October 7th. But later on, it was also said that Hamas treated all the hostages with respect. Hostages were given the same food they ate and were taken good care of.
Regardless of the hostages being released, the IDF continues its relentless bombing in Gaza and the West Bank. It has bombed the Jabalia refugee camp several times, killing hundreds of refugees taking shelter there. The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell was ‘appalled’ by the number of casualties in the refugee camp bombing.