Afrasianet - Zakaria Shahin - The world knows that Israel possesses nuclear weapons and is the sixth country in the world to develop such weapons. It is one of four nuclear states not defined in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) as nuclear-weapon states.
The other three countries are India, Pakistan and North Korea . Israel maintains a policy known as "nuclear ambiguity" (also known as "nuclear obfuscation").
Israel has never officially acknowledged that it has nuclear weapons, repeating instead over the years that it will not be the first country to "enter" nuclear weapons in the Middle East, leaving much uncertainty as to whether that means it won't manufacture them, disclose them, be not the first to use them, or perhaps have another explanation for the phrase.
The wording of the phrase "you will not be the first" dates back to the Eshkol Memorandum of Understanding -Comer took place between Israel and the United States on March 10, 1965, which for the first time included a written Israeli assurance that it would not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons in the Middle East.
Israel refuses to sign the NPT despite international pressure to do so, and recalls that signing the NPT would be contrary to its national security interests.
In addition, Israel has made intensive efforts to deny other actors in the region their ability to acquire nuclear weapons. The Begin doctrine of pre-emptive strike against proliferation added another dimension to Israel's current nuclear policy. Israel remains the only country in the Middle East to possess nuclear weapons.
Israel began investigating the nuclear field shortly after its founding in 1948 and with French support secretly proceeded to build a nuclear reactor and reprocessing plant in Dimona during the late fifties.
There are claims that nuclear weapons production in Israel began in the late sixties, but this has not been publicly confirmed. In 1986, Mordechai Vanunu, a former Israeli nuclear technician, provided details and clear images to the Sunday Times .of an Israeli nuclear weapons program in which he had been working for nine years, "which included equipment to extract radioactive material for weapons production and laboratory models of thermonuclear devices."
Estimates of the size of Israel's nuclear arsenal vary between 75 and 400 nuclear warheads. Israel's nuclear deterrent force is expected to have the ability to deliver these warheads to their targets using intermediate-range ballistic missiles, intercontinental missiles, aircraft, and submarine-launched cruise missiles.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimates that Israel has approximately 80 nuclear weapons in operation, including 50 warheads equipped for delivery by Jericho II medium-range ballistic missiles and 30 "gravity bombs" (unguided bombs) equipped for delivery by aircraft.
Now, at a time when Israel is committing genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians, whether in the Gaza Strip or in the occupied West Bank, one of the Zionist ministers comes out to demand that his army drop a nuclear bomb on the Palestinians.
Imagine, for example, if this statement was issued by a minister in another country. The issue here does not need to be speculated, in this case the resurrection of the United States and its European colonies represented by the European Union, the Security Council will convene, armies will move and the countdown against that country will begin.
As for this statement issued by a Zionist minister, the matter is different, as we have not heard any real comments, condemnations or the like from the countries participating in Israel's act of genocide of the Palestinian people, the first of which is the United States of America.
Simple and timid condemnations were issued from here and there without leaving any trace of what was said.
The Arab League warned of statements by an Israeli minister about the use of a nuclear bomb in Gaza, explaining that it is evidence that Tel Aviv possesses a nuclear weapon.
The Secretary-General of the League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, stressed that the statements represent an Israeli racist outlook and a dangerous intention that should not be underestimated. For its part, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the statement raises many questions about Israel's nuclear file.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the statement by Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu that Israel should carry out a nuclear strike on Gaza raises many questions, including the fact that it is in the country's arsenal and the absent role of the International Atomic Energy Agency and its inspectors.
These shocking statements should have been the subject of a wide wave of condemnation and condemnation at the global level, as evidence of Israel's ethnic cleansing and genocide.
It serves as a wake-up call for the international community to confront the threat posed by the Israeli attack by targeting innocent civilians to peace, security and stability in the region.
But that didn't happen, of course!!!
So: After a month of Gaza's steadfastness in the face of comprehensive and brutal Israeli aggression, the nerves of the Israeli government - innately extremist - began to break more than they are uncontrollable, as members of Benjamin Netanyahu's government, parliamentarians and extremist party figures waved the explicit threat to strike Gaza with a nuclear bomb, and that this option is strongly on the table.
The problem is that the threat of striking Gaza with nuclear weapons stems from the tongues of ministers in the current Israeli government, and this threat should not go unnoticed without the international community standing in front of it and dealing with it seriously and strictly, and stressing that the implementation of threats on the ground will open a wide door for their committee in front of many countries in other conflict areas, using the same nuclear weapon, and the use of nuclear bombs becomes part of the war tactics of countries that possess this type of weapon, which also pushes countries Many – both in the Middle East and outside the region – enter the nuclear arms race, and no one can prevent them.
Amichai Eliyahu, Netanyahu's heritage minister, who belongs to the Jewish Power party led by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, has explicitly said over the past few hours that one of Israel's options in the war on Gaza is to drop a nuclear bomb on the Strip, a statement published by the Times of Israel.
The surprise of the shocking statement of the Israeli Minister of Heritage - and we do not know what is the heritage of Tel Aviv - did not stop at the point of threatening to strike Gaza with a nuclear bomb in a blatant replay of the Hiroshima strike, but reached his demand to recover the territory of the Strip to expel the Palestinians to Ireland or the deserts, and said a text: «The monsters in Gaza must find the solution themselves».
The Israeli minister's threat to strike Gaza with an atomic bomb was not the first, it was preceded by «Tali Gutlyev» MP in the Israeli Knesset, for the Likud party headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, when she demanded on her own account on the site X «Twitter previously» the Israeli army the need to use weapons on the Day of Resurrection in the Gaza Strip, in response to the attacks of Palestinian factions, and said a text: «I urge you to do everything, and use the weapons of the Day of Resurrection without fear against our enemies, it's time for the Day of Judgment, it's time to launch powerful rockets without Borders, leave no life on the ground, crush Gaza and flatten it mercilessly."
This sample of threats reminded us of a leaked email in September 2016, in which former US Secretary of State General Colin Powell admitted that Israel possesses a nuclear arsenal of at least 200 warheads and that the purpose of its possession is to prevent the destruction of the Jewish state.
Whether the figure is correct or exaggerated, the threats are unacceptable, and in the event that the extremist Netanyahu government strikes Gaza with a nuclear bomb, the fire will bounce back in the chest of Tel Aviv, and its dust will threaten the security and stability of the region, and the heart of Europe and America will suffer from the pain of the strike, for decades!
The provocative statements in which one of the ministers of the Israeli Government threatened to drop a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip reflect the hateful face of the extremism and brutality of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people and its grave and ongoing violations against the Gaza Strip and its disregard for the lives of innocent people, human and moral values and international laws, especially in light of the green light and cover that the international community has provided to the occupation in its open war against the besieged Palestinian people in Gaza.
The threat to strike the besieged Gaza Strip with a nuclear bomb is nothing but an extension of the escalatory policy adopted by the Government of the Israeli entity in the occupied Palestinian territories.
This threat has opened the door to many question marks about the international position that turns a blind eye to Israel's nuclear weapons, the double standards in this regard, and the disregard for the continuous calls for a nuclear-weapon-free Middle East and nuclear disarmament.
The international community is called upon to deal seriously with the Israeli statements regarding the threat to strike the besieged Gaza Strip with a nuclear bomb and to take them seriously, and that the world should not be satisfied with condemnations alone, but should be followed by urgent action by the international community on more than one track, whether in the direction of pressuring the Israeli entity to stop the aggression and massacres to which the Palestinians are subjected in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Jerusalem, or in terms of providing the necessary protection for the Palestinian people, as well as the relevant institutions of the international community such as The Security Council, the International Criminal Court, the International Atomic Energy Agency and others, with their responsibilities stipulated in international law and international charters and resolutions.
Statements by Amichai Eliyahu, Israel's heritage minister, about the possibility of a nuclear strike in the Gaza Strip have revived the debate over Israel's nuclear program, the existence of which Tel Aviv does not confirm but does not deny.
Some say that it is a confession by one of the country's senior officials to possessing nuclear weapons, which entails many international measures, here lies the irony, everyone knows this.
The wave of anger that erupted inside Israel, after the extremist minister's threat to drop a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip, came out of concern for the secrecy of the nuclear weapons possessed by Israel, which it has not officially declared and covers up to this day.
Netanyahu's resentment of his minister's extremist statement did not come out of concern for human feelings, but rather in order to preserve the ambiguity and secrecy that Israel adopts towards its nuclear arsenal, which, if revealed, fears could lead to a wave of nuclear arms race in the Middle East.
Israel's supposed nuclear weapons program and the history surrounding it have long been ambiguous and largely tolerated.
Any official recognition of Israel's nuclear weapons program would upset the current balance in the region, which could lead to the proliferation of nuclear weapons throughout the Middle East, according to the Center for Non-Proliferation.
Israel's nuclear blackout policy makes analysis difficult, but historical records provide clear key insights.
In a July 1969 declassified memorandum to U.S. President Richard Nixon, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger explained that when buying Phantoms from the United States, Israel committed not to be the first to introduce nuclear weapons into the Near East.
However, Israel is now believed to have interpreted the word "enter" to mean that it can acquire nuclear weapons as long as they have not tested, deployed, or publicly displayed them.
When asked to confirm that Israel does not possess any nuclear weapons in a 2011 interview with CNN, he was asked to confirm that Israel did not possess any nuclear weapons. The. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, replied that this is Tel Aviv's policy not to be the first to introduce nuclear weapons into the Middle East.
Experts believe Israel's policy of obfuscation is likely to change if another Middle Eastern country acquires nuclear weapons.
To prevent both outcomes, Israel has consistently interfered with the nuclear programs of its neighbors, through what it calls a policy of pre-emptive strikes, also known as the "Begin Doctrine."
Israel is widely believed to have 90 plutonium-based nuclear warheads and has produced enough plutonium to make 100-200 weapons.
The country's weapons-grade fissile material stockpiles are believed to come from two sources: first, plutonium intended for Israel's nuclear weapons program was produced at the Negev Nuclear Research Center near the city of Dimona.
Natural uranium fuel may have also been irradiated in a heavy water reactor, after which the plutonium could be chemically separated at the reprocessing plant, which is believed to be co-located in the Negev.
Dimona is also believed to have been built with French assistance in the sixties, although the facility is not under IAEA safeguards, and inspectors are not allowed to go there.
An unclassified study prepared for the U.S. Congress in 1980 estimated that the Dimona reactor was capable of producing 9-10 kilograms of fissile plutonium annually starting in 1965.
Israel refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, despite international pressure to do so, and recalls that signing the NPT would be contrary to its national security interests.
Western governments refuse to even scrutinize this, but what do activists say? Let's follow up
Western activists and human rights defenders: Eliyahu's call to strike Gaza with a nuclear bomb is a "madness and obsession"
Western activists and human rights activists have described Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu's call to drop a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip with the aim of displacing Palestinians from the Strip as "crazy and obsessive."
The BDS movement considered Eliyahu's statement the first public admission by an Israeli minister that his country possesses nuclear weapons and that it may use these weapons to exterminate millions of Palestinians.
Swedish activist and academic Ashok Swain called Eliyahu's call "crazy," saying, "Netanyahu's far-right ministers are getting crazy: his minister Amichai Eliyahu says dropping a nuclear weapon on the Gaza Strip is an option."
British human rights defender Nazir Afdal marveled at the statement of the Israeli Minister of Heritage, saying, "Relative self-defense means dropping a nuclear weapon on Gaza, in the opinion of this Israeli minister."
American activist Oni Nkozi said Netanyahu's right-wing government includes "completely mentally ill" members, adding, "And that's the problem with making the issue of foreign policy an issue of faith, you can no longer criticize them, because if you do that you think you are disobeying God."
Australian writer Caitlin Johnston was not surprised by Eliyahu's statement, considering it a natural result of the unlimited Western support for the massacres committed by Israel in Gaza for nearly a month in light of international silence.
Johnston said on her X account: "Western officials: Israel is defending itself. Israeli officials: We are committing genocide. Western officials: They follow the rules of war. Israeli officials: We will commit more genocide. Western officials: It's a deliberate response to the events of 7/10. Israeli officials: Let's bomb Gaza with nuclear weapons."
German activist and academic John Ngienga mocked Eliyahu's remarks, saying, "I have proposed that Israel drop nuclear bombs on Gaza. Your intention is clear to all wise people, Mr. Minister of Heritage."
American writer and activist Lucas Gage commented on the remarks, "Zionists are crazy. Israel needs regime change."
Michael Stevens, a British researcher on global policy, described the Israeli minister as "obsessive", saying: "It's hard to understand why these standards are allowed to erode. Deterrence is a complex and well-thought-out process that relies on decades of game theory and modeling. But none of this works if an obsessive person opens his mouth. Nuclear weapons do not allow such mistakes."
The Minister of Heritage in the Israeli government, Amichai Eliyahu, said that dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza is a possible solution, adding that the Gaza Strip should not remain on the face of the earth, and Israel must re-establish settlements in it, and saw that the war has a price for those he described as "kidnapped" Israelis by the Palestinian resistance.
Asked in an interview with Radio Kol Perama (local) whether Gaza should be bombed with a nuclear bomb, Eliyahu, who belongs to Itamar Ben-Gvir's far-right Otzma Yehudit party, replied: "This is one possibility."
"They (Hamas) have to beg to bring back the abductees, what does that mean? In war, the price is paid, why is the life of the kidnapped more precious than the lives of soldiers?"
"I aspire that we return to the establishment of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and go there with pride," he said.
As for the Palestinian citizens, the minister said, "Let them go to Ireland or the deserts, and let the monsters in Gaza take over the task of solving themselves."
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant has previously demonized Palestinians when he said "Israel is fighting human animals in the Gaza Strip" and called Hamas ISIS.
Israeli MK from the ruling Likud party, Galit Destel Etbarian, who two weeks ago was minister of public diplomacy, also called in a Facebook post for the complete erasure of the Gaza Strip from the face of the earth.
In another post, she said, "We all agree that Hamas is a Nazi, but what do we call the millions of Palestinians who support the Nazis from the stands?"
Israeli journalist and human rights activist Gideon Levy summed up the Israeli scene in an article in the Hebrew newspaper Haaretz: "Fascism has spread at all levels and has become the only prevailing position. When it comes to Gaza, there is no difference."
"Reporters and broadcasters call Hamas Nazis in a sickening display to downplay the importance of the Holocaust and denial, and the masses applaud. Israel is going through a difficult period characterized by a loss of conscience and wisdom."
So what then and where is the West, which pays lip service to humanity and the maintenance of human rights on a daily basis? I think that the aggression on Gaza has removed the masks from the criminal West, which has awakened colonialism again, and which has become completely dependent on the dictates of the United States, which treats its countries as colonies subject to it.