The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahususpended the member of the government who proposed launching an atomic bomb this Sunday, the 5th Gaza would be “an option” in the confrontation Hamas terrorists. The government’s quick reaction to criticism of the monument minister Amichay Eliyahu seems to reflect concern about growing pressure Israel against the escalation of violence in the enclave.
Amichay Eliyahu of the ultranationalist Jewish Power party said in a radio interview that he was not entirely satisfied with the Israeli response to the Hamas terror attack that sparked the war. The journalist asked if the solution would be “some kind of nuclear bomb” across the entire Gaza Strip to “kill everyone,” to which the minister replied, “That is an option.”
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu speaks to the press. Photo: Archive/ AP/ Maya Alleruzzo
The interviewer then pointed out that this would come at a heavy price for Israel, and Eliyahu indicated that he was willing to risk the lives of the more than 240 hostages held by Hamas in the area. “In a war there is a price to be paid. Why is the life of the hostages (…) more important than that of our soldiers?” he said.
Netanyahu responded quickly: He said that his troops “act in accordance with the highest standards of international law to avoid harm to noncombatants” and that the minister’s statements were “disconnected from reality.” Eliyahu is suspended from government meetings “until further notice.”
After the scandal, the minister spoke in a post of a “vigorous response to terrorism.”
In addition to calling for the hostages’ family members, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is facing a wave of protests inside and outside the country as the conflict in the Gaza Strip intensifies.
The response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attack has already killed more than 9,700 people on the Palestinian side, including 4,800 children, according to the Hamascontrolled local health ministry. Figures that have not yet been independently verified. On the Israeli side, 1,400 people have been killed by Hamas terrorists and around 240 remain hostage./AFP and The New York Times