Canada, Western allies slam Israeli minister's suggestion that starving Palestinians may be justified

Israel's Western allies have condemned remarks by the country's far-right finance minister, who suggested that the starvation of Gaza's population of more than two million Palestinians «might be just and moral» until hostages captured in Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel are returned home.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in a speech on Monday that Israel had no choice but to send humanitarian aid into Gaza.

«It's not possible in today's global reality to manage a war — no one will allow us to starve two million people, even though that might be just and moral until they return the hostages,» he said at a conference in support of Jewish settlements.

Smotrich, a key partner in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition, supports the reoccupation of Gaza, the rebuilding of Jewish settlements that were removed in 2005, and what he describes as the voluntary migration of large numbers of Palestinians out of the territory.

Canada's embassy in Israel on Wednesday condemned his remarks on the X social media platform, saying «these inflammatory comments undermine prospects for peace.»

The European Union on Wednesday also took exception, noting that the «deliberate starvation of civilians is a war crime.»

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called the remarks «beyond ignominious,» saying «it demonstrates, once again, his contempt for international law and for basic principles of humanity.»

David Lammy, Britain's new foreign secretary, said «there can be no justification for Minister Smotrich's remarks.»

«We expect the wider Israeli government to retract and condemn them,» he wrote on X.

Germany's ambassador to Israel, Steffen Siebert, called the remarks «unacceptable and appalling.»

«It is a principle of