'Nuke Gaza' Comment From Israeli Minister Raises Eyebrows In Moscow
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Tuesday said that recent remarks by Israeli Minister of Heritage Amihai Eliyahu, in which he said dropping a nuclear bomb in the Gaza Strip is "a possibility," raised a multitude of questions.
"It raised a great number of questions. Question number one: Does this mean we are hearing an official statement acknowledging [Israel’s] possession of nuclear weapons? Accordingly, the next set of questions that everyone has is: Where are the international organizations, including the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency]; where are the inspectors?" Zakharova said during a televised interview.
Estimates of Israel's nuclear stockpile range between 80 and 400 warheads, which can be delivered via aircraft, submarine-launched cruise missiles, and the Jericho series of intermediate to intercontinental-range ballistic missiles.
Its first deliverable nuclear weapon is thought to have been completed in late 1966 or early 1967, making it the sixth country in the world to have developed them.
Israel has never openly tested its nuclear weapons nor signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), making it the world’s only unacknowledged atomic power. The country has also never been subjected to an inspection from the UN nuclear watchdog.
Asked in an interview with Radio Kol Berama last week whether an atomic bomb should be dropped on Gaza, Israeli minister Eliyahu answered: "This is one of the possibilities."
Eliyahu, from the Jewish supremacist Religious Zionist party, stated further that "there is no such thing as uninvolved civilians in Gaza" and that, therefore, no humanitarian aid should be allowed into the besieged enclave.
He also expressed his support for depopulating Gaza and reconquering it to reestablish Jewish settlements there. Regarding the Palestinian population, he said: "They can go to Ireland or deserts; the monsters in Gaza should find a solution by themselves." Eliyahu added that anyone waving a Palestinian or Hamas flag "shouldn’t continue living on the face of the earth."
Just in🚨Syria calls on the international community and the International Atomic Energy Agency to investigate Israel's nuclear program, after Israel openly threatens to nuke Gaza. The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/YUUkBdSvvL
— Syrian Girl 🇸🇾🎗 (@Partisangirl) November 6, 2023
In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspended Eliyahu from participating in cabinet meetings and dismissed his statement, calling it "not based in reality."
Russia's UN envoy has previously stated that, as an occupying state, Israel has “no right" to self-defense.
