EU top diplomat: Smotrich’s Gaza starvation comments ‘beyond ignominious’

7 August 2024, 9:42 pm 116 Edit

European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell delivers a statement to the media prior to a Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) meeting at the EU headquarters in Brussels on May 27, 2024. (François WALSCHAERTS / AFP)

Reacting to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s insinuation on Monday that he believes blocking humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip is “justified and moral” even if it causes two million civilians to die of hunger, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says he expects the Israeli government “to distance itself from his words.”

“Deliberate starvation of civilians is a war crime: Minister Smotrich advocating for it is beyond ignominious,” he writes on X.

He adds that Brussels wants Jerusalem to “provide full account of the reported acts of torture in the Sde Teiman prison.”