Israel’s Western allies have condemned remarks by its far-right finance minister, who suggested that starving Gaza’s population of more than 2 million Palestinians “might be just and moral” until hostages captured in Hamas’ 7 October attack on southern Israel are returned home.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in a speech on Monday that Israel had no choice but to send humanitarian aid to Gaza.
“It’s not possible in today’s global reality to manage a war — no one will allow us to starve 2 million people, even though that might be just and moral until they return the hostages,” he said at a conference in support of Jewish settlements.
Smotrich, a key partner in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition, supports the reoccupation of Gaza, the rebuilding of Jewish settlements that were removed in 2005, and what he describes as the voluntary migration of large numbers of Palestinians out of the territory.
The European Union on Wednesday slammed his remarks, noting that the "deliberate starvation of civilians is a war crime”.