The European Union, France and the UK on Wednesday condemned a far-right Israeli minister for suggesting it would be “justified and moral” to starve two million Gazans to free scores of captives held in the Palestinian territory.
“No one in the world will allow us to starve two million people, even though it might be justified and moral to free the hostages,” Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said at a conference earlier this week.
Smotrich’s remarks sparked outrage in the international community, with the European Union saying the deliberate starvation of civilians was a “war crime”.
“It demonstrates, once again, his contempt for international law and for basic principles of humanity,” the EU said in a statement.
France also criticised Smotrich, expressing its “deep dismay at the scandalous remarks”.
UK Foreign Minister David Lammy said on X that there “can be no justification for Minister Smotrich’s remarks”, and called on “the wider Israeli government to retract and condemn them”.
