The Israeli finance minister has come under fire for suggesting it may not be immoral to permit the starvation of millions of Palestinians to release a large number of captives being held in the region.
Bezalel Smotrich said this week at a conference that it “might be justified and moral” to “starve two million people,” if done with the intention of “free[ing] the hostages.” He added that, despite the argument he made in favor of the idea, nobody “in the world” would “allow” them to initiate it.
The comments come as intense rhetoric over the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas has died down in recent months. The Palestinian terror group triggered the war with a gruesome October 7, 2023, massacre of more than a thousand people in Israeli towns. Since then, nearly 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza as a result of the Jewish nation’s retaliatory attacks.
Mediating nations have worked for months to try and reach a peace deal between the two enemies, with little progress. But ceasefire agreements have gotten complicated as Hamas refuses to enter into a deal until Israel calls off its offensive and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that his military will not stop until the terrorist group is completely destroyed.
Smotrich’s recent comments were made in light of the emphasis his government has placed on retrieving hostages from Hamas. A total of 251 people were kidnapped in October and 111 of them remain in captivity in Gaza. 39 of them are already dead, according to Israel.
But the suggestion that starving civilians would be “moral” to spare the remaining hostages did not go over well. David Lammy, the United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary, criticized the statement on social media. The British official said that, as clearly outlined in international law, it is a “war crime” to initiate the “deliberate starvation of civilians.”
He added that Smotrich’s comments have “no justification” and called on the “wider Israeli government” to both “retract and condemn them.” Lammy was not the only one to voice concern over the comments. The European Union also released a statement in response, accusing Smotrich of having no consideration for the “basic principles of humanity.”
The EU likewise called for the government of Israel to “distance itself” from the finance minister’s sentiments and reiterated the need to provide humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza, especially “thousands of children” who are caught in the war’s crossfire.
Though the most recent controversial comments from Israel, it is far from the first time that the Jewish nation has faced severe scrutiny for its response to the massacre. While its allies have sharply criticized the work of the Palestinian terror group, they have also made efforts to hold the devastated Israel accountable for its actions.
The most intense criticism came in January of this year, when South Africa accused Israel of committing genocide and filed a case against the Jewish nation with the top court of the United Nations, the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The case argued that Israel was “intent on destroying” Gaza residents and civilians and demanded that the court order the country to cease its attacks. South Africa also argued that comments from Israeli leaders pointed to their “genocidal intent.”
