International outcry over Israeli minister's nuclear bomb remark on Gaza

Representative Pic/AFP

A statement by Israeli Heritage Minister Amihai Eliyahu suggesting the use of a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas conflict has sparked widespread condemnation from China, Iran, and numerous Arab nations. The remarks were criticized as a serious threat to global security.

At the opening of a United Nations conference focused on establishing a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East, several ambassadors voiced their disapproval and raised concerns over the statement made by Eliyahu. The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, promptly disowned the comments, suspended the minister from cabinet meetings, and clarified that the remarks were meant to be metaphorical.

Israel, which neither confirms nor denies its nuclear capabilities, faces international pressure to retract the statement and join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. China's deputy UN ambassador, Geng Shuang, called the remarks "extremely irresponsible and disturbing" and urged Israel to become a non-nuclear weapon state under the treaty.

The United Nations disarmament chief, Izumi Nakamitsu, emphasized the inadmissibility of any threat to use nuclear weapons and reiterated the urgency of establishing a nuclear weapons-free zone in the Middle East.

Several nations, including Oman on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Lebanon, and Iran, condemned the remarks, with calls for decisive action by the UN Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Iran's UN Ambassador, Amir Iravani, highlighted the secrecy surrounding Israel's nuclear capabilities as a threat to regional stability.

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Lebanon's Charge d'Affaires Hadi Hachem also condemned the Israeli heritage minister's comments, stressing that "this self-acknowledgment of having nuclear weapons and the threat of using them by its officials, poses a serious threat to both regional and international peace and security".

He urged Israel to stop "such rhetoric or posturing" and join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear weapon state.

Iran's UN Ambassador Amir Iravani told the conference the nuclear threats directed toward Palestinians by high-ranking Israeli officials highlight Israel's "pride" in having these weapons in its hands.

"The secrecy surrounding Israel's nuclear capabilities poses a significant threat to regional stability," he said. "In these critical times, the imperative to establish such a zone in the Middle East has never been more urgent."

Israel did not speak Monday but Netanyahu has said his country's biggest threat remains the possibility of a nuclear-armed Iran, and it is prepared to prevent that from happening.

While Israel did not address the conference, Netanyahu has consistently expressed concerns about a potential nuclear-armed Iran. Efforts to create a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East have been ongoing since the 1960s, with the latest UN conference discussing the issue in the context of heightened tensions in the region. (With inputs from agencies)