Palestine demands ICC arrest warrant for Israel’s far-right minister

Smotrich suggested earlier this week that Israel should allow the starvation of two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and that it would be justified, but that the international community would not allow it.

“Smotrich’s statements are an explicit admission of adopting and bragging about the policy of genocide,” the ministry’s statement said, adding that the comments are a “direct expression of the ugliest forms of fascism”.

The ministry announced that Smotrich issued a direct challenge to international law and the International Criminal Court in his statements, and that the court should respond with an arrest warrant.

For nearly 10 months, the Israeli military has imposed a tight siege on the Gaza Strip, extremely limiting the flow of life-saving essential food and medical items.

Aid delivery is scarce, unprotected and restricted.

In June, independent UN investigators said Israel was using starvation on the Palestinian population as a weapon of war.

The hunger crisis has led to the death of dozens of people due to malnutrition, mostly children.

A high risk of famine persists across the Gaza Strip as almost the entire population faces high levels of acute food insecurity or worse, including half a million suffering starvation, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) announced in June.