Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu has drawn strong criticism after statements about Israel not needing to worry about starvation in Gaza. The statement is one in a series from officials within Israel’s far-right government in line with the genocidal ambitions expressed already at the beginning of the Gaza war.
The far-right politician Amichai Eliyahu from the Jewish Power party (Otzma Yehudit) dismissed renewed UN warnings about artificial famine in the besieged enclave on Thursday. In an interview with Radio Kol Barama, he claimed that the Israeli government is “rushing to erase Gaza”.
— Thank God, we are erasing this evil. All of Gaza will be Jewish, Eliyahu said according to Israeli news site Ynet.
— We shouldn’t be dealing with hunger in Gaza – let the world take care of them. No nation feeds its enemies. Have we completely lost our minds? Should we care about their evening meal?, he added.
השר עמיחי אליהו ברדיו קול ברמה: “הממשלה דוהרת לזה שעזה נמחקת, תודה להשם שאנחנו מוחקים את הרוע הזה. כל עזה תהיה יהודית” pic.twitter.com/aj0XMje4XA
— יואלי ברים yoeli brim (@yoeli_brim) July 24, 2025
Strong criticism from government leadership
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly distanced himself from the statements and pointed out that Eliyahu is not a member of the security cabinet, which decides on warfare.
“This government’s policy is clear and unified. His statements do not represent it”, Netanyahu said.
Israel’s ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, also condemned Eliyahu’s comments and called them “wrong, foolish and completely unrepresentative of Israel’s government and people”. In a post on X, he emphasized that Israel is committed to creating a mechanism to deliver humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza “but not through Hamas”.
UN warns of mass starvation
According to local health authorities, more than 59,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, including at least 113 who died of starvation. World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday that Israel’s “blockade” has brought Gaza to the brink of “mass starvation”.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, has urged Israel to allow access for the 6,000 aid transports currently stalled in Egypt and Jordan.
Israeli officials have in turn accused Hamas and other armed groups of hoarding supplies and attacking civilians at distribution sites.
