‘Not even grain of wheat will enter Gaza’: Israeli finance minister
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Bezalel Smotrich vows to prevent even “a grain of wheat” from entering the blockaded Gaza Strip, where Israeli airstrikes have claimed more than 50,000 lives.
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Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich arrives to attend the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in occupied al-Quds, on Sunday, March 5, 2023. (Pool via AP)
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared on Monday that he would prevent the entry of "even a grain of wheat" into the blockaded Gaza Strip.
"Not even a grain of wheat will enter Gaza," Smotrich said, as reported by Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth.
"Israel" has closed Gaza's border crossings since March 2, halting the flow of humanitarian, relief, and medical aid, resulting in a severe humanitarian crisis, according to local government and human rights reports.
The tightened blockade is part of a renewed assault on Gaza, which has resulted in nearly 1,400 martyrs and over 3,400 injuries since March 18, despite a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement which "Israel" scrapped, rekindling the war.
Smotrich emphasized that his priority remains defeating Palestinian Resistance group Hamas rather than securing the return of Israeli captives from Gaza.
In response to the ongoing Israeli atrocities in Gaza, Hamas condemned Israeli actions in Gaza, accusing it of enacting revenge against innocent civilians, in a statement published on Tuesday.
The Palestinian group accused "Israel" of carrying out retaliatory attacks against innocent civilians in Gaza, rather than just applying "military pressure", calling on the international community to "fulfill its responsibility and immediately halt" the unabated atrocities in Gaza.
It stressed that "military escalation won't bring the Israeli captives back alive" but rather "endangers and kills them," emphasizing that negotiation remains "the only way to secure their release."
"Netanyahu's strategy of targeting civilians - children, women, and the elderly - in Gaza won't achieve any military victory, but will inevitably backfire," Hamas stated, adding that "escalating aggression won't break the Palestinian people's will - it will only strengthen their defiance and determination to resist."
