Graham doubles down on nuking Gaza, but says one-ton bombs sufficient
3 Min Read
The US Senator responds to Iran's condemnation of his earlier statements suggesting that the Israeli occupation should bomb Gaza with an atomic bomb to win its "existential war".
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Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and US Senator Lindsey Graham at the occupied Golan Heights in March 2019. (US Senator Lindsey Graham's office)
Senator Lindsey Graham said on Tuesday that the United States dropping atomic bombs on Japan saved hundreds of thousands of American lives, adding that the use of nuclear weapons in Gaza is not necessary while 2000-pound bunker-buster bombs are.
His comments, published on his X account, were addressed to Iran, which condemned Graham's Monday statement, where he suggested that the Israeli occupation entity should strike Gaza with a nuclear bomb for it to win its "existential" war.
To the Iranian Foreign Ministry:
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) May 14, 2024
Let me be clear. I support weapons transfers to Israel that give them the ability to destroy the underground tunnels, bunkers and hiding places of the cowardly terrorists you support and have financed.
Using nuclear weapons in Gaza is not… pic.twitter.com/GcO5FfASq0
On Tuesday, Nasser Kanaani, the spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, described Graham's remarks as "horrific," warning that they "violate all international laws, norms, and human rights resolutions."
Read more: Israeli minister suggests nuking Gaza
The Senator's statements "reflect the brutality of those who advocate for war and disregard human rights and international resolutions," Kanaani said, adding that "the United States has a history of using nuclear weapons while merely claiming to defend human rights."
However, Graham doubled down on his point, stating for a change that the use of 1-ton explosives can be used rather than nuclear bombs.
"It is believed that using nuclear weapons to end the fanatical Japanese Regime saved tens of thousands of Japanese lives and avoided over a million American casualties, which could have included my own father who was serving in New Guinea at the time," the US official continued on X.
"The United States used whatever means necessary to end a war of annihilation. Israel should be allowed to do what they need to do to win a war they can’t afford to lose."
Kanaani also urged "the international community to condemn American support for the Zionist entity and confront these demonic statements to prevent the continuation of the humanitarian disaster and genocide being committed in Gaza."
$1 billion in weapons 'Israel'
The Wall Street Journal reported last December that the United States supplied "Israel" with bunker-buster bombs equipped with one-ton explosive warheads that were used to commit at least one known large massacre in Jabalia in late October – which resulted in the killing of over 400 Palestinians.
On Tuesday, the Associated Press AP reported, citing US officials, that President Joe Biden's administration informed key lawmakers that will provide "Israel" with more than $1 billion in additional arms and ammunition.
The package will include about $700 million for tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles, and $60 million in mortar rounds, three congressional aides said on condition of anonymity. It is still unclear when these weapons will be delivered.
This will be the first weapons' provision green-lighted by Washington after it reportedly halted an arms transfer consisting of 3,500 bombs of up to 2,000 pounds each earlier this month over alleged Rafah-invasion tensions – which the occupation still launched last week.
