Venezuela Condemns Nuclear Threat Against Gaza

On Sunday, Venezuela strongly condemned the threat of a nuclear attack against the Palestinians residing in Gaza, which was made by Israel's Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu.

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"Venezuela expresses its repudiation and astonishment at the declarations of a minister of the State of Israel, who has threatened all of humanity by announcing the possibility of resorting to a nuclear attack against the defenseless population of the Gaza Strip, in the midst of an ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people," the Foreign Affairs Ministry stated.

"The Israeli Minister’s statements are a serious transgression of all international agreements and a demonstration that the State of Israel has degenerated into a threat to life on the planet. The international community must react immediately and stop these actions of extermination, contrary to all laws and world norms," it added.

"Venezuela urges the bodies of the United Nations System to condemn the State of Israel, and demands the immediate establishment of an international tribunal to judge the war crimes and threats that are shamelessly launched by the band of criminals that govern that State."

Previously, during a radio interview on Sunday, Israeli Minister Eliyahu said he was not entirely satisfied with the extent of Israeli retaliation in the Palestinian enclave.

When the journalist asked him whether to launch "a kind of nuclear bomb" to "kill everyone" in Gaza, Eliyahu responded that it was "an option" and implied that Israel was willing to assume the high price that such an action would imply.

"In a war, a price has to be paid. Why are the lives of the hostages... more important than those of our soldiers?," Eliyahu said, referring to the Israeli hostages in Gaza.

In response to this matter, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office issued a statement denouncing opinions "disconnected from reality" and suspending the minister's participation in government meetings until further orders.

After the scandal unleashed by his opinions, Eliyahu said that his statement about the atomic weapon was "metaphorical", although he does consider that "a powerful and disproportionate response to terrorism" is required.

Since October 7, Israeli bombings have injured tens of thousands of people in Gaza and killed 9,700 Palestinians, including 4,800 children..