Illustrative image. Source the Israeli Air Force.
Israel’s far-right Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said on November 5 that one of Israel’s options against the Hamas Movement was to drop a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip.
Asked in an interview with Radio Kol Berama whether an atomic bomb should be dropped on the enclave, the minister, who is a member of the extremist Otzma Yehudit party, said that “this is one of the possibilities.”
Eliyahu’s remarks came as the Israeli military is conducting an unprecedented operation in Gaza in response to the October 7 Hamas-led surprise attack, which claimed the lives of more than 1,400 Israeli. More than 9,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of an operation.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly disavows Eliyahu’s contention that dropping a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip is a possibility.
“Amichai Eliyahu’s words are detached from reality,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “Israel and the IDF are acting in accordance with the highest standards of international law in order to prevent harm to uninvolved people, and we will continue to do that all the way to victory.”
Meanwhile, opposition Leader Yair Lapid lambastes said Eliyahu’s remarks “a horrifying and insane remark by an irresponsible minister,” and called on Netanyahu to fire him immediately.
“He offended the families of the [241 Gaza] captives, offended Israeli society and harmed our international standing,” Lapid said. “The presence of the extremists in the government endangers us and the success of the war goals — defeating Hamas and returning the hostages.”
It is believed that Israel had possessed an operational nuclear weapons capability by 1967, with the mass production of nuclear warheads occurring immediately after the Six-Day War.
Experts estimated the stockpile of Israeli nuclear weapons range from 60 to as many as 400. It is unknown if Israel’s reported thermonuclear weapons are in the megaton range. Israel is also reported to possess a wide range of different systems, including neutron bombs, tactical nuclear weapons and suitcase nukes. The Negev Nuclear Research Center is reportedly the heart of the country’s nuclear program.
While the use of nuclear weapons against Gaza is certainly not a possibility, Israel’s heavy strikes on the Strip have been causing destruction comparable to the effects of weapons of mass destruction.
Israel has dropped more than 25,000 tons of explosives on Gaza since the start of the war, equivalent to two nuclear bombs, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said in a press release issued on November 2.
In addition, reports in Arab media warned that Israel could use chemical weapons, including nerve agents, in Gaza in order to clear Hamas tunnel network.
Overall, Eliyahu’s remarks show how extremists in Israel have been becoming more vocal and influential since Netanyahu returned to lead the government last year. Under Netanyahi’s leadership, Israel completely abandoned peace efforts and cracked down on Palestinains which directly led to the war taking place in Gaza right now.
