An ultra-conservative member of Israel’s Cabinet was suspended Sunday after speculating to the media that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might use a nuclear weapon to destroy Gaza, Politico reports. Israel’s Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, a member of the ultra-nationalist Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) Party, said in a radio interview that the use of nuclear weapons “was a possibility” in Gaza because there are “no non-combatants in Gaza.” Eliyahu later claimed he was speaking metaphorically, even though he was specifically asked about the use of nuclear weapons non-metaphorically.
A report Saturday in the Washington Post stated more than 400,000 non-combatant civilians are still trapped in northern Gaza unable to leave the combat zone because of restrictions by Israel, Egypt and Hamas. Israel has faced increased international pressure to conduct military operations in a disciplined method to limit civilian casualties in densely populated Gaza City. The leader of Israel’s opposition coalition, Yair Lipid, called for Eliyahu’s immediate removal, calling it a “shocking and crazy statement by an irresponsible minister.”