Russia’s foreign ministry has reacted with concern to a comment from a junior Israeli minister who appeared to express openness to the idea of Israel carrying out a nuclear strike on Gaza.
Asked in a radio interview about a hypothetical nuclear option, heritage minister Amihay Eliyahu, who has since been suspended by Benjamin Netanyahu over the comments, had replied: “That’s one way.”
Maria Zakharova, Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, said the comment “raised a huge number of questions”.
She said the main issue was that Israel appeared to have admitted that it had nuclear weapons – despite not publicly acknowledging this.
The Federation of American Scientists has estimated Israel has about 90 nuclear warheads.
Yesterday, the president of the Institute for the Study of War thinktank said Israel will find soon Vladimir Putin is “not a helpful or a friendly actor”.
While he has balanced relations between Iran and Israel until now, Kimberley Kagan said he would “have to make a choice soon” – and he would more than likely choose Iran thanks to its help with the war effort.
569 aid trucks have reached Gaza – but none containing fuel
A total of 569 aid trucks have reached Gaza since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas, but none has carried fuel, according to the UN’s humanitarian office.
Gaza is almost at “breaking point” when it comes to fuel, the office added.
Humanitarian issues have quickly moved to the forefront of this war, with the Hamas-run health ministry claiming more than 10,000 civilians have been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza since 7 October.
Governments, charities and organisations are all calling for humanitarian pauses in the conflict to allow aid into the enclave and critically injured people out.