Pakistan ‘appalled’ by Israeli minister’s statement of nuking Gaza

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Monday said it was ‘appalled’ by a statement of an Israeli minister threatening nuclear force against Palestinians.

“This reflects an intention for ethnic cleansing and genocide. This is a wakeup call for the international community to the threat posed by Israeli aggression to regional peace, security and stability,” said the Foreign Office on Monday.

From the Middle East similar sentiments were echoed by a Hamas spokesperson who reacted, “These statements reflect the unprecedented criminal Zionist terrorism practiced by this fascist government and its leaders against our people.”

These reactions came in the wake of remarks by Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu who said on Sunday that dropping a “nuclear bomb” on the Gaza Strip is “an option”.

Eliyahu, a minister from the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, said: “One of Israel’s options in the war in Gaza is to drop a nuclear bomb on the Strip.” The minister also voiced his objection to allowing any humanitarian aid into Gaza.

“We wouldn’t hand the Nazis humanitarian aid,” the minister said, adding: “There is no such thing as uninvolved civilians in Gaza.” “Anyone waving a Palestinian or Hamas flag shouldn’t continue living on the face of the earth.”

Following his remarks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspended the junior member from the cabinet. Netanyahu’s office issued a statement saying that the minister concerned had been suspended from cabinet meetings “until further notice”.

However, later there are were reports that after pressure on Netanyahu from his cabinet, Eliyahu was back in the cabinet. The horrific and blood thirsty remarks from Israel come as the health ministry in the Gaza Strip said the death toll from Israeli bombardment of the Palestinian territory had surpassed 10,022 nearly one month after the start of the war.

Monday also saw former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemning the statement of the Israeli minister. The PMLN president said such an extremist mindset with access to nuclear power is a grave danger to world peace.

“The IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] must immediately monitor the Zionist state’s nuclear sites and the world must respond decisively to this extremism and nuclear madness. “The [UN] Security Council and international community cannot stay silent on the massacre of innocent Palestinians and Israel’s plan for global catastrophe. We also call for a united diplomatic effort among Islamic countries to address this imminent danger,” Shehbaz said.

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Palestine said that with no electricity or fuel, which is banned by the Israeli authorities, and with many solar panels destroyed, life-saving equipment in Gaza cannot operate. Hospitals, water wells, bakeries and other facilities have also all been affected.