Israeli threat to attack Gaza with nuclear weapons and its impact on Egyptian national security

Regarding the statement of the Israeli Minister Turath that attacking Gaza with nuclear weapons is an option, and retracting once again this statement to the government and Netanyahu and their apology for this, the main question raised here, is: what does this reveal about their intentions and that this is considered terrorism and does this have an impact on Egypt’s national security?

   Extremist politicians in Israel called for the use of nuclear weapons against the poor and besieged Gaza Strip, as the war with Hamas entered its second month, and a number of countries and non-governmental organizations accused Israel of committing war crimes and genocide against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.  A strict statement was issued by the Arab Parliament condemning the statements of throwing a nuclear bomb on Gaza, which confirms the criminal nature of the Israeli occupation authority, and reflects its persistence in blatant defiance of international law. It represents a serious threat and incitement to murder, reflecting unprecedented levels of hatred and extremism. Therefore, we must call on the international community to put an end to racist and inflammatory speeches against Israel and the daily crimes against the Palestinian people.

 The first public reaction from the Israeli government against Jewish extremists regarding their public statements regarding the use of nuclear weapons against the Gaza Strip to eliminate the Hamas movement was what was announced by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, by suspending Heritage Minister “Amichai Eliyahu” from attending meetings.  government, indefinitely.  Especially after Eliyahu proposed the idea of ​​bombing Gaza with nuclear bombs.  Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that Heritage Minister “Amichai Eliyahu”, who belongs to an extreme right-wing party in Israel’s coalition government, has been suspended from Cabinet meetings until further notice with the statements of the Israeli Minister of Heritage, Eliyahu, made headlines in the Arab media and were condemned by the main Israeli media.  Knowing that neither Minister “Eliyahu” nor his party leader participates in the small ministerial group managing the Gaza war. They are also not aware of Israel’s nuclear capabilities, which Israel does not acknowledge publicly or have the ability to activate at any time.

   This is not the first time that Israeli politicians have called for the use of nuclear weapons against the Palestinians, especially against the Gaza Strip, to eliminate Palestinian resistance movements such as Hamas and others.  Taking into account that Israel is among the nine nuclear states in the world, although it does not admit to possessing nuclear weapons along with three other countries: (India, Pakistan, and North Korea).  Israel’s failure to reveal its nuclear secrets is justified by the fact that it is not a signatory to the (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty).

  The most prominent Israeli politician and official calling for the use of nuclear weapons against the Gaza Strip was Tali Gotliff, a representative in the Israeli Knesset from the Likud Party, calling for “violent revenge” in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israeli settlements, in addition to the call of the former Knesset member “Moshe Feiglin” called on the Israeli government to use nuclear weapons against the Gaza Strip.  The calls by Israeli extremists to use nuclear weapons against the Gaza Strip come under the pretext of eliminating Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Qassam Brigades, especially after the ground invasion of the Gaza Strip by the Israeli occupation army, where the Israeli forces suffered heavy human losses, with dozens of occupation soldiers killed, as many Jewish extremists demanded, by using nuclear weapons against the Hamas movement in Gaza, after assurances from Israeli Defense Minister “Yoav Galant” that the Israeli army is paying a heavy price and has received a strong blow, during clashes with Palestinian fighters in the Gaza Strip. Human losses have become a very sensitive issue for Israeli society.

   Here we affirm that the attempt of the Israeli occupation authority to disavow the statements calling for the use of nuclear weapons against the Gaza Strip is not motivated by any legal or humanitarian considerations, because they basically do not exist in its dictionary. Rather, it is an escape from Israel’s official recognition of its possession of these nuclear weapons, despite the awareness and approval of the entire world, by possessing them, therefore, the Arab side and the entire international community must quickly use this opportunity, by calling on the International Atomic Energy Agency to carry out its international responsibilities and condemn these statements and consider them an official recognition by Tel Aviv of its possession of nuclear weapons and officially record this, given the issuance of these statements by current Israeli ministers and officials.

 In general, the Israelis consider that nuclear weapons represent the last weapon or option that they may resort to to resist and defend themselves, if their country is exposed to an existential threat, but many Israeli army and war generals rule out that Israel will go for this option, because it will be the first to be affected by it.  However, these calls for the use of nuclear weapons came from a number of statements by Israeli officials, as a result of anger over the harsh strike that Israel was subjected to by the Hamas movement, after the outbreak of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation, to which Israel responded with the “Iron Swords” operation.

  As for the impact of what is happening on Egyptian national security, we find that there are Israeli provocative attempts by the Israeli army to force the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to forcibly displace them to the south of the Strip near the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, which constitutes pressure on the Egyptian side and harms its national security, and this is what the considered by the authorities of Egyptian, Jordanian, and other countries believe that what Israel is doing, with the help of America and its allies in the West, is an export of the crisis to neighboring countries.  Here we find that the Egyptian role has taken a more influential turn, with the North Sinai Governorate announcing that it has raised the readiness of its hospitals to receive any infection cases arriving from the Gaza Strip, in addition to Egyptian fears of American, Israeli and Western calls for forced displacement of the residents of the Gaza Strip to the Egyptian land of Sinai, including it has negative effects on Egypt’s security.  Egypt strongly responded to statements issued by an Israeli army spokesman, under the pretext of probing the Egyptian public and provoking it, by calling on the civilian population of Gaza to go to Egypt if they wanted to avoid Israeli air strikes, which was later denied by another Israeli army spokesman and the Israeli ambassador.  In Cairo.

   Here, Egyptian President “Abdel Fattah El-Sisi” came out to confirm that his country will not allow the Palestinian cause to be liquidated, and will also not be complacent in protecting its national security. As the days passed, aid convoys began to accumulate in the city of Al-Arish in North Sinai, near the Rafah crossing, waiting for them to enter Gaza, but the repeated Israeli bombing on the Palestinian side of the crossing prevented them from crossing. Here, Cairo stipulated facilitating the safe arrival of aid to the Gaza Strip, in exchange for allowing the crossing of foreign nationals through the Rafah land crossing.  The Egyptian side, of course, does not agree to any plan to carry out a large settlement process for Palestinians in the land of Sinai.  Egypt does not have camps, camps, or areas that can accommodate such large numbers of residents of the Gaza Strip, and therefore the Egyptian role is currently focused on putting pressure on the Israeli sides and the Palestinian resistance factions, led by the Hamas movement, to establish a truce, stop firing, and begin negotiations immediately.

Dr.Nadia Helmy
Dr.Nadia Helmy
Associate Professor of Political Science, Faculty of Politics and Economics / Beni Suef University- Egypt. An Expert in Chinese Politics, Sino-Israeli relationships, and Asian affairs- Visiting Senior Researcher at the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES)/ Lund University, Sweden- Director of the South and East Asia Studies Unit