PM Benjamin Netanyahu has suspended from government meetings a junior minister, Amichai Eliyahu who, in responses to a radio interviewer’s question, suggested that using an atomic bomb in Gaza was “one of the possibilities.” He also said that there was a high price of rescuing hostages, and that any deal to release them would need to be considered carefully.

Within hours, Netanyahu responded with a statement that the views of the Minister of Heritage did not reflect those of the Israeli government. “Amichai Eliyahu’s words are not based in reality,” he said, reiterating Israel’s strict adherence to the “highest standards of international rules of war to avoid harming innocents.”

Eliyahu, a member of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, defended his position by saying, “Why are the lives of the abductees, whose release I really want, more important than the lives of the soldiers and the people who will be murdered later?”

In the ensuring brouhaha, Eliyahu doubled down on his stance, refusing humanitarian aid to Gaza, and suggesting, “They can go to Ireland or deserts; the monsters in Gaza should find a solution by themselves.”

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid urged Netanyahu to dismiss Eliyahu, condemning his statement as “a horrifying and insane remark by an irresponsible minister.” Minister Benny Gantz echoed this sentiment, criticizing Eliyahu’s comments as contrary to Israeli values and detrimental to the nation’s political standing.