Smotrich said Israel is bringing in humanitarian aid because it has no other choice: “We are in a situation that requires international legitimacy to wage this war.” The EU has said that deliberately starving civilians is a “war crime,” The Guardian reports. Brussels hopes the Israeli government will “unequivocally distance itself” from the far-right minister’s words.
Earlier, Smotrich and his comrade, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who served a prison sentence for terrorism, called for the virtual expulsion of more than two million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. They also threatened to collapse Israel’s coalition government if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed an “unfavorable” deal with Hamas.
France also criticised Smotrich, saying that providing humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza is an “obligation under international humanitarian law” for Israel as it controls all access to the territory. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy called on Israel’s coalition government to condemn the comments.
The U.S. State Department said separately on Wednesday that Israel must fully investigate allegations of sexual abuse of Palestinian prisoners by its soldiers. Spokesman Matthew Miller said U.S. authorities have reviewed and vetted documentary material. If there are detainees who have suffered abuse, the Israeli government, the Israel Defense Forces, must thoroughly investigate these actions, he said. The White House also called reports of rape, torture and abuse of Palestinian prisoners “deeply troubling,” Reuters reported.
The Israeli military has said in response to previous allegations that it operates according to the rule of law and that any specific allegations of abuse are investigated.
The investigation sparked protests by far-right Israelis who stormed two military installations after military police detained nine soldiers on allegations of mistreatment of a detainee captured in the Gaza Strip by army reservists at the Sde Teiman detention center in southern Israel. “It is appropriate that the IDF has announced an investigation into this matter and arrested several individuals allegedly involved,” Miller said.
On Monday, The Guardian newspaper, citing interviews with released prisoners, reported that violence, starvation, humiliation and other forms of mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners have become the norm throughout Israel’s prison system. The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem said in its report that Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinians has become so systemic that it should be considered a policy of “legally sanctioned violence.”
