According to Times of Israel, Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich has said on Monday letting two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip die of hunger “might be justified and moral.”
“We can’t, in the current global reality, manage a war. Nobody will let us cause 2 million civilians to die of hunger, even though it might be justified and moral until our hostages are returned,” Smotrich said at a conference in Yad Binyamin hosted by the right-wing Israel Hayom outlet.
Meanwhile, as per the reports of the experts of the United Nation, 34 Palestinians have died from malnutrition since October 7, and the majority of them being children.
“Everyone wants to bring the hostages back, but the deal only gets a minority of hostages and condemns the majority and therefore it’s not right and not moral and it endangers the nation,” Smotrich added.
The far-right minister reaffirmed his opposition to any prisoner swap deal with Hamas, arguing that current cease-fire proposals are “unjust and unethical” as they would only secure the release of a few hostages while compromising state security.
He also said his opposition to releasing Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli hostages, asserting that they would “return to kill Jews.”
Moreover, Smotrich restated his controversial stance on the resettlement of the Gaza Strip, claiming that, “Where there is no settlement, there is no terror.”
The UN considers Israeli settlement building in occupied Palestinian territories as illegal and a major blockage to the two-state solution.
Defying a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an attack last October by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
39,600 Palestinians Killed, 91,6000 injured
More than 39,600 Palestinians have been killed since October, mostly women and children, and over 91,600 injured, according to local health authorities.
Almost 10 months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
