US ‘appalled’ by Smotrich for suggesting starvation of Gazans could be justified

The Biden administration says it’s “appalled” by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s comments earlier this week suggesting that starving the entire population of Gaza could be justified in order to secure the release of the Israeli hostages.

“We are appalled by these comments and reiterate that this rhetoric is harmful and disturbing,” a State Department spokesperson says in a statement to The Times of Israel.

US President Joe Biden and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken have repeatedly stressed “the need to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, remove any obstacles to the flow of aid and restore basic services for those in need,” the statement adds.

Speaking at a conference on Monday, Smotrich said, “We bring in aid because there is no choice.”

“We can’t, in the current global reality, manage a war. Nobody will let us cause two million civilians to die of hunger, even though it might be justified and moral until our hostages are returned,” he continued. “Humanitarianism in exchange for humanitarianism is morally justified — but what can we do? We live today in a certain reality, we need international legitimacy for this war.”