The French Foreign Ministry spokesman attacked Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said at the Katif Conference for National Responsibility in collaboration with "Israel Hayom" that "there might be a moral justification for starving two million citizens in Gaza to death to free hostages." The ministry stated, "France is deeply shocked by the appalling remarks of the Israeli Finance Minister."
The statement also noted, "France reminds Israel that it must act in accordance with the International Court of Justice's ruling from January 26 and take all necessary steps to implement it. Providing humanitarian aid is a duty under international humanitarian law."
It should be noted that during the "Katif" conference held two days ago, the minister addressed the humanitarian issue in Gaza. He said, "I have one main argument with the army and the defense minister, and on this issue, I don't know if the prime minister doesn't want or can't enforce them. The issue is taking responsibility for the civil humanitarian effort during the war. The army is terrified of the concept of military governance. By the way, no one is talking about education or welfare now, but the fact that Hamas takes control of the humanitarian aid and that's its lifeline, it's the main prolonger of the war."
He added, "If we had taken responsibility for the humanitarian effort six months ago, bringing in humanitarian aid because there is no choice, you cannot conduct a war in today's global reality; no one in the world will let us starve and thirst two million citizens to death. Although it might be just and moral until they return our hostages."
"Humanitarian for humanitarian," said Smotrich, adding that "morally, there's no choice. We live in a space. We need international legitimacy for this war. If we controlled the aid and not Hamas, it would be the greatest psychological breaking factor. It would have already ended the war. We would have received the hostages. The fact that the recipient of the aid receives money and maintains this aid and his civilian control over the Strip is, in my opinion, a mega-strategic mistake in managing this war."
The minister's remarks have echoed worldwide and may be used against Israel in various forums in the future, as has happened with similar statements from coalition members in recent months.
The minister's remarks echo worldwide
The minister's comments reached a series of media outlets around the world. On the India Today TV channel's website, the remarks received relative prominence in the world section. "Israeli Finance Minister: Starving Gazans to death might be the right thing," said the headline.
In the British "Guardian," a left-center-leaning newspaper, the comments were not highlighted much but were "compensated" by a misrepresentation when they wrote that Smotrich said starving was not "the right thing to do" but that it "was the right thing to do."
In the Polish news portal Gazeta.pl, the headline read, "Israeli Minister on Humanitarian Aid: Starving the Palestinians could be justified and ethical." The subheading said that according to the minister, transferring aid prolongs the war, emphasizing that in today's reality, it's impossible to conduct a war. "There is only one thing preventing us from doing this (starving the Palestinians)."
The Turkish news agency "Anadolu" also extensively quoted Smotrich's remarks. "No one will allow us to cause two million Palestinians to starve to death, even if it might be justified and moral," read the subheading of the report above a picture of displaced people's tents in Deir al-Balah.
Coincidentally or not, a few hours after the statement, EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell issued a condemnation following the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza and called on Israel to stop any actions that might increase risks for the population in the Strip.
In the global context, Smotrich's comments might join those of Minister Amichai Eliyahu, who did not rule out in November the possibility of dropping an atomic bomb on Gaza, and MK Moshe Saada of Likud, who said, "We need to annihilate the Gazans." These remarks were mentioned in discussions in the lawsuit against Israel in The Hague.
