People search through buildings that were destroyed during Israeli air raids in the southern Gaza Strip on November 5, 2023, in Khan Yunis, Gaza.Getty
An Israeli minister has said that dropping a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip is an option, adding that the Palestinian population should "go to Ireland or the deserts".
Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, a member of the Otzma Yehudit party, told Israeli station Radio Kol Berama that dropping an atomic bomb on Gaza "is one of the possibilities".
Eliyahu called for Israel to retake the Gaza Strip and restore settlements there, adding that displaced Palestinians can go to Ireland.
"They can go to Ireland or deserts, the monsters in Gaza should find a solution by themselves," Eliyahu told Radio Kol Berama.
Eliyahu stated that anyone waving a Palestinian or Hamas flag "shouldn’t continue living on the face of the earth", adding that the northern Strip has no right to exist.
He also voiced his objection to humanitarian aid entering Gaza, stating that "we wouldn’t hand the Nazis humanitarian aid".
"There is no such thing as uninvolved civilians in Gaza," Eliyahu added.
Eliyahu is not part of Israel's security cabinet, which is involved in wartime decision-making.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has distanced himself from Eliyahu's comments, describing the remarks as "divorced from reality".
The Associated Press reports that Eliyahu has been suspended from cabinet meetings until further notice. However, the AP additionally notes that the move has no real impact as he is not a member of the wartime cabinet formed in the aftermath of the Hamas attacks in southern Israel on October 7.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also distanced himself from Eliyahu's comments, stating that it was a "good thing that people like this are not in charge of Israel's security".
Meanwhile, the Israeli Embassy in Dublin told the Irish Times that Eliyahu's comments "do not represent the views of the Israeli Government".
"The minister’s comments do not represent the views of the Israeli government, and he was suspended from government meetings. Israel is currently fighting Hamas in order to bring back the hostages and eliminate the threat from Hamas on our population," the Israeli Embassy told the Irish Times.