Kan: Netanyahu suspended heritage minister who proposed nuclear strike on Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suspended Heritage Minister Amihai Eliyahu, who said that dropping a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip is “one of the possibilities” for the development of the conflict, Kan radio reported.
Eliyahu, the far-right Minister of Jerusalem and Heritage Affairs, will be suspended from government meetings until further notice, the radio station said.
Earlier, Eliyahu said in an interview that dropping a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip could be “one of the possibilities.” According to the Times of Israel, the politician also expressed his opposition to allowing any humanitarian aid into Gaza, saying that Israel would not hand over humanitarian aid to “Nazis” and “there is no such thing as uninvolved civilians in Gaza.”
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Galant strongly condemned Eliyahu for such remarks.
“I condemn the baseless and irresponsible words of Minister Amihai Eliyahu. It is good that such people are not among those responsible for Israel’s security,” Galant wrote on social media X.
Eliyahu is a member of the nationalist Zionist Otzma Yehudit (Powerful Israel) party, which is headed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, known for scandalous anti-Palestinian outbursts. The party’s ideology denies the possibility of a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River.