Smotrich: It is “Justified, Moral” to Starve Gazans

CROSSFIREARABIA – If it was up to him, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich would starve to death the over two million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip. He said such action would be “justified and moral”.

His comments are trending on the social media.

However, he added the international community wouldn’t allow us to do it. “We can’t, in the current global reality, manage a war. Nobody will let us cause two million civilians to die of hunger even though it might be justified and moral until our hostages are returned,” Smotrich told a conference hosted by Israel’s Hayom daily newspaper according to Anadolu.

“Humanitarian in exchange for humanitarian is morally justified, but what can we do? We live today in a certain reality, we need international legitimacy for this war,” he added.

One blogger has called him a “fanatic terrorist settler” while another says ‘this racist monster doesn’t know the true meaning of justice and morality.”

Smotrich’s comments have “sparked outrage reflecting a disturbing rhetoric that is interpreted as indicative of genocidal intent,” states Al Mayadeen English.

“The Nazi-like genocidal intent of apartheid Israel is unmistakable in Smotrich’s criminal words,” says Professor Jonathan Moyo, former minister of higher education in Zimbabwe.

“We are bringing in aid because there is no choice,” Smotrich said, calling for Israel to have full control over what enters the Palestinian enclave.

The far-right minister reiterated his opposition to any prisoner swap deal with Hamas, claiming that current cease-fire proposals are “unjust and unethical” as they would only return a few hostages and jeopardize state security, Anadolu stated.

He also expressed his opposition to releasing Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli hostages, asserting that they would “return to kill Jews.”

Moreover, Smotrich reiterated his controversial stance on the resettlement of the Gaza Strip, claiming that: “Where there is no settlement, there is terror.”

But Gaza is already being starved through an Israeli imposed crippling blockade instituted on the Strip since the 7 October, 2023 Hamas attack, leaving the territory’s entire population on the verge of famine.

Thousands of aid trucks stand idle on the Rafah border unable to get into Gaza because of the Israeli big guns. What is being allowed is only a trickle to feed a hungry population who are dying because they are being starved.

This has been the case for the last 10 months with Israel turning the transport and entry taps as it pleases.

CrossFireArabia

CrossFireArabia

Dr. Marwan Asmar holds a PhD from Leeds University and is a freelance writer specializing on the Middle East. He has worked as a journalist since the early 1990s in Jordan and the Gulf countries, and been widely published, including at Albawaba, Gulf News, Al Ghad, World Press Review and others.

Related Posts

Amnesty Condemns Netanyahu’s Visit to Hungry

Responding to reports that Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has invited and plans to host Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Hungary on Wednesday, Erika Guevara-Rosas the head of Global Research, Advocacy and Policy of Amnesty International said:

“Prime Minister Netanyahu is an alleged war criminal, who is accused of using starvation as a method of warfare, intentionally attacking civilians and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.  As a member state of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Hungary must arrest him if he travels to the country and hand him over to the Court. Any trip he takes to an ICC member state that does not end in his arrest would embolden Israel to commit further crimes against Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

“Netanyahu’s reported visit should be seen as a cynical effort to undermine the ICC and its work, and is an insult to the victims of these crimes who are looking to the Court for justice. Hungary’s invitation shows contempt for international law and confirms that alleged war criminals wanted by the ICC are welcome on the streets of a European Union member state.

“Netanyahu’s visit to Hungary must not become a bellwether for the future of human rights in Europe. European and global leaders must end their shameful silence and inaction, and call on Hungary to arrest Netanyahu during a visit which would make a mockery of the suffering of Palestinian victims of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, its war crimes in other parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and its entrenched system of apartheid against all Palestinians whose rights it controls.

“Amnesty International calls on the ICC Prosecutor to investigate and prosecute all Israel’s crimes. Hungary should equally do so by applying universal jurisdiction principles. Powerful leaders, like Netanyahu, accused by the ICC of war crimes and crimes against humanity, must no longer enjoy the prospect of perpetual impunity.”

“The ICC was established to ensure accountability for victims of genocide and other crimes under international law, and so that crimes which shock the human conscience would “never again” be accompanied by impunity. In ‘bringing power to justice’, the ICC is now facing a global backlash from powerful leaders seeking to undermine the international rule of law and stamp out the prospect of accountability for the most powerful.”

Background

In November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as al-Qassam brigades commander Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Since then, leaders from ICC member states France, Germany, Italy, Hungary and Poland have stated or implied that they would not arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he travelled to their respective countries. The United States has also enacted sanctions against the ICC Prosecutor, Karim Khan.

A cornerstone principle of the ICC’s founding Rome Statute is that all individuals subject to ICC arrest warrants must be arrested and surrendered to the Court without recourse to immunity when they are within the jurisdiction of ICC member states, including on their territory.

Continue reading

You Missed

US Senate Votes For Israel Weapons

US Senate Votes For Israel Weapons

Israel Beheads Babies

Israel Beheads Babies

Israel’s Gaza Bombing Surpasses ISIS Days

Israel’s Gaza Bombing Surpasses ISIS Days

Can Arab States Stop The Israeli Genocide?

Can Arab States Stop The Israeli Genocide?

‘In Gaza We Die a 1000 Deaths a Day’

‘In Gaza We Die a 1000 Deaths a Day’

Amnesty Condemns Netanyahu’s Visit to Hungry

Amnesty Condemns Netanyahu’s Visit to Hungry