Sharp criticism from Berlin: Starving: Israel minister outraged with statement on Gaza

Sharp criticism from Berlin
Starving: Israel minister outraged with statement on Gaza

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Bezalel Smotrich would accept the starvation of two million people to force the release of the Hamas hostages. The Israeli finance minister’s comments have sparked sharp criticism from Western allies. Berlin is making it clear.

Germany, France and the EU have expressed their horror at comments by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, in which he regrets the food aid for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and describes starvation as morally justified. “These are completely unacceptable and outrageous comments by the Israeli Finance Minister. We reject them in the strongest possible terms,” ​​said a spokesman for the Foreign Office in Berlin.

“It is a commandment of humanity and a fundamental principle of international humanitarian law that even in war, civilians must be protected and, for example, given access to water and food,” said the spokesman.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that the Israeli government was expected to clearly distance itself from Minister Smotrich’s words. The comments again demonstrated his contempt for international law and the basic principles of humanity. The deliberate starvation of civilians is a war crime.

According to Israeli media reports, Smotrich had commented on the international situation in his country and described a blockade of aid supplies until all hostages held by Hamas were released as moral and justified, even if this meant the starvation of two million people in the Gaza Strip. But the international community would not allow this, said Smotrich.

Arrest warrants requested against Netanyahu & Co.

The Paris Foreign Ministry spoke of “scandalous statements” and also called on the Israeli government to “strongly condemn these unacceptable statements”. “France recalls that the provision of humanitarian aid to two million civilians who find themselves in an absolute emergency situation in a territory under blockade and whose access points are controlled by Israel is an obligation under international humanitarian law, as the International Court of Justice has recalled.”

When asked whether the Federal Government saw this as a “genocidal intent” or assessed these statements in this way, the Foreign Office spokesman said he was sure “that the statements were also being followed very closely in The Hague, where these kinds of issues are being discussed.”

On May 21, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague requested arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israelis. They are accused, among other things, of being responsible for starving civilians as a method of warfare and for arbitrary killings and targeted attacks on civilians.

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