Geneva: UN rights chief Volker Turk was “shocked and appalled” by comments by Israel’s finance minister suggesting it might be “justified” to starve the population of Gaza to free hostages, his spokesman said Friday.
The United Nations high commissioner for human rights “condemns these words in the strongest terms, which also incite hatred against innocent civilians,” his spokesman Jeremy Laurence told a press conference.
Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stoked controversy earlier this week, telling a conference: “No one in the world will allow us to starve two million people, even though it might be justified and moral in order to free the hostages.”
“We are bringing in humanitarian aid because we have no choice. We are in a situation that requires international legitimacy to conduct this war,” Smotrich said.
Turk’s spokesman told reporters that “the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is a war crime.
“This direct and public statement risks inciting other atrocity crimes. Such statements, especially by public officials, must cease immediately, they must be investigated and if found to amount to a crime, must be prosecuted and punished,” Laurence said.
The unprecedented October 7 Hamas attack that triggered the war in Gaza resulted in the deaths of 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Palestinian militants seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 39 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 39,699 people, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, which does not give details of civilian and militant deaths.
Since the war in Gaza broke out, the humanitarian situation in the besieged Palestinian territory remains dire, with almost all of its 2.4 million population displaced and suffering from food shortages.
![]()
UN ‘shocked’ by Israel minister’s Gaza starvation comment
Short Url
https://arab.news/my8eb
UN ‘shocked’ by Israel minister’s Gaza starvation comment
- Almost all of Gaza, 2.4 million population is displaced and suffering from food shortages
Israel uses cargo ships to repatriate doctors stranded abroad by war
A ZIM official told Reuters on Tuesday that its cargo ships were shuttling between Limassol and Haifa
More shuttles are planned this week to repatriate what could be hundreds of doctors
JERUSALEM: Israeli authorities are using container ships to bring back dozens of essential medical staff stuck abroad after the air war with Iran broke out on Saturday, disrupting travel, according to Israel’s cargo firm ZIM Shipping.
A ZIM official told Reuters on Tuesday that its cargo ships were shuttling between Limassol in Cyprus and the Israeli port of Haifa, in an operation coordinated between the Transportation Ministry, major Israeli hospitals and the company.
So far, 40 doctors have returned in two sailings — including one on Tuesday — and more shuttles are planned this week to repatriate what could be hundreds of doctors, to deal with Israelis injured by Iranian missiles.
“It’s the easiest way to get them home when there are no flights,” said the official, who asked not to be named.
The doctors were away either at conventions or on holidays and now sought to “go back as fast as possible to their jobs in case of emergencies,” he added.
ZIM was re-routing ships from usual shipping routes between Israel and Mediterranean ports such as in Greece and Italy, and making makeshift arrangements on the cargo vessels to keep the doctors safe and comfortable during the 15-hour voyage from Cyprus. Israel and the US began bombing Iran on Saturday, triggering a wave of retaliatory strikes across the Middle East that have led to flight chaos, with hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded worldwide due to the closure of airspaces.
US and Israeli officials said the campaign could last weeks.
Israeli airlines have begun repatriation flights via Taba in Egypt, which borders the Red Sea resort city of Eilat in southern Israel. However, passengers must then travel north to major cities, which takes hours by car or bus.
“This (cargo ship option) is far more efficient and easy,” the official said.
More shuttles are planned this week to repatriate what could be hundreds of doctors
JERUSALEM: Israeli authorities are using container ships to bring back dozens of essential medical staff stuck abroad after the air war with Iran broke out on Saturday, disrupting travel, according to Israel’s cargo firm ZIM Shipping.
A ZIM official told Reuters on Tuesday that its cargo ships were shuttling between Limassol in Cyprus and the Israeli port of Haifa, in an operation coordinated between the Transportation Ministry, major Israeli hospitals and the company.
So far, 40 doctors have returned in two sailings — including one on Tuesday — and more shuttles are planned this week to repatriate what could be hundreds of doctors, to deal with Israelis injured by Iranian missiles.
“It’s the easiest way to get them home when there are no flights,” said the official, who asked not to be named.
The doctors were away either at conventions or on holidays and now sought to “go back as fast as possible to their jobs in case of emergencies,” he added.
ZIM was re-routing ships from usual shipping routes between Israel and Mediterranean ports such as in Greece and Italy, and making makeshift arrangements on the cargo vessels to keep the doctors safe and comfortable during the 15-hour voyage from Cyprus. Israel and the US began bombing Iran on Saturday, triggering a wave of retaliatory strikes across the Middle East that have led to flight chaos, with hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded worldwide due to the closure of airspaces.
US and Israeli officials said the campaign could last weeks.
Israeli airlines have begun repatriation flights via Taba in Egypt, which borders the Red Sea resort city of Eilat in southern Israel. However, passengers must then travel north to major cities, which takes hours by car or bus.
“This (cargo ship option) is far more efficient and easy,” the official said.
Latest updates
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.