Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich: Starving Gazans 'To Death' May Be Moral, but World Won't Let Us - Israel News - Haaretz.com
HaaretzAug 5, 2024
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Monday that starving two million Gazans "to death" may be the "right and moral" to do until Israeli hostages held in Gaza are released, but that the "world won't let us."
Speaking about Israel's decision to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza at the Katif Annual Conference, the far-right lawmaker said that a deal with Hamas would endanger Israel and see the return of few hostages.
"We have a responsibility, we want to bring back the hostages, but a deal would only return a few captives and seal the fate of most of them to stay in captivity in Gaza," Smotrich said.
"In my way, there is a chance to bring them all back," he said, adding that the deal currently on the table endangers Israel's security, "tarnishes the achievements of the war," and allows Hamas to recover quickly.
Smotrich then attacked Israeli protesters urging the government to reach a hostage deal, calling them "irresponsible people who for months weakened the Israeli position and attacked the government and its leader and the army with reckless demonstrations, [saying deal] 'now' and 'at any cost.'"
Referring to the hostage deal last November, Smotrich said that it wasn't a good deal, but that he supported it because it was "reasonable under the circumstances [at the time]." He said that Israel at the time was "united, determined, aggressive; the IDF acted strongly. Hamas was pressured to raise its head above water for a moment and made a good deal," he said.
Smotrich's remarks follow similar ones he made in April, when he called for "total annihilation" of the Gazan cities of Rafah, Deir al-Balah and Nuseirat. "There are no half measures," he said, before quoting a bible verse that was featured in South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in January after it was invoked by Prime Minister Netanyahu shortly after the outbreak of the war: "'Thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.'"