From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, November 14, 2023
China joins condemnations of Israeli minister’s statement about nuking Gaza
China, Iran and a multitude of Arab nations condemn an Israeli minister’s statement that a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip was an option in the Israel-Hamas war, calling it a threat to the world.
At a long-planned opening of a United Nations conference whose goal is to establish a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East, many ambassadors express condemnations and criticisms of comments by Heritage Minister Amihai Eliyahu, who later called his remarks in a radio interview Sunday “metaphorical.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly disavowed the comments and suspended him from cabinet meetings.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its nuclear capability. It is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons, and a former employee at its nuclear reactor served 18 years in Israeli prison for leaking details and pictures of Israel’s alleged nuclear arsenal program to a British newspaper in 1986.
China’s deputy UN ambassador Geng Shuang says Beijing is “shocked,” calling the statements “extremely irresponsible and disturbing” and saying they should be universally condemned.
He urges Israeli officials to retract the statement and become a party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, considered the cornerstone of nuclear disarmament, as a non-nuclear weapon state “as soon as possible.”
Geng says China is ready to join other countries “to inject new impetus” to establishing a nuclear weapon-free zone in the Mideast, saying there is greater urgency because of the current situation in the region.
Oman’s UN Ambassador Mohamed Al-Hassan, speaking on behalf of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Saudi Arabia, says the threat to use nuclear weapons in Gaza “reaffirms the extremes and brutality of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people” and their “disregard for innocent life.”
He calls on the UN Security Council and the IAEA to take decisive action on the matter.
Representatives of Lebanon and Iran also condemn Eliyahu.
The Times of Israel Community.