The Russian Foreign Ministry underlined today Tuesday that the Israeli minister’s statement about a nuclear strike on Gaza raises a huge number of questions.
The Minister of Cultural Heritage, Amihai Eligiahou, asked in a radio interview whether an atomic bomb should be dropped on the Palestinian enclave, had given an answer that caused an uproar: “It is one of the possibilities.”
On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspended Eliyahu, who belongs to a far-right ruling coalition party, from government meetings “until further notice”.
The statement on nuclear use “raises a huge number of questions,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, according to state news agency RIA.
The main issue, he stressed, is that Israel appeared to admit that it has nuclear weapons. Although Israel does not officially admit to possessing nuclear weapons, the Federation of American Scientists estimates that the country possesses about 90 nuclear warheads.
“Question number one,” notes Maria Zakharova, “does it seem like we’re hearing official statements about the presence of nuclear weapons?” If so, he added, then where are the International Atomic Energy Agency and the international nuclear inspectors?
Although Israel does not officially admit that it has nuclear weapons, the Federation of American Scientists estimates that the country has about 90 nuclear warheads
Israel’s far-right Minister of Heritage, Amihai Eliyahu
Immediate condemnation
Amihai Eliyahu’s comment was quickly condemned by the entire Arab world, scandalized Israeli anchors, described as “unacceptable” by a US official, while Iran demanded a swift international response.
“The UN Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency must take immediate and sustained action to disarm this barbaric apartheid regime. Tomorrow is too late,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdolakhian wrote on Platform X.
The minister of the extremist party Otzma Yehudit supports the recapture of the territory of the Gaza Strip and the restoration of the settlements there.
Asked on the same radio show about the fate of the Palestinian population, he said: “They can go to Ireland or the deserts, the monsters in Gaza have to find a solution themselves.”
