EU is appalled

Israeli minister wants to starve the Gaza Strip

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich during a debate in the Israeli parliament

(Bild: APA/AFP/Menahem KAHANA)

Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich regrets that there is food aid for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and claims that starving the population there would be morally justified. These statements have caused outrage in the EU.

Josep Borrell, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, announced on Wednesday that the Israeli government was expected to distance itself unequivocally. The deliberate starvation of civilians is a war crime. "These are completely unacceptable and outrageous statements by the Israeli Finance Minister. We reject them in the strongest possible terms," said a spokesperson for the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. "It is an imperative of humanity and a basic principle of international humanitarian law that civilians must be protected even in war and must, for example, have access to water and food," the spokesperson said. 

Palestinian children distributing drinking water

(Bild: AFP)

The Paris Foreign Ministry spoke of "scandalous statements" and also called on the Israeli government to "strongly condemn these unacceptable statements". "France recalls that the provision of humanitarian aid to two million civilians in an absolute emergency situation in an area under blockade and whose access points are controlled by Israel is an obligation under international humanitarian law, as the International Court of Justice has recalled."

Smotrich regrets: International community against
According to Israeli media reports, Smotrich had commented on the international situation in his country and described a blockade of aid supplies until all hostages were released as moral and justified, even if this meant the starvation of two million people in the Gaza Strip. But the international community would not allow this, the radical minister added. 

Arrest warrant application against Netanyahu
On May 21, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague applied for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israelis. Among other things, they are accused of being responsible for starving civilians as a method of warfare as well as for arbitrary killings and targeted attacks on civilians.