China, Iran, Arab nations condemn Israeli minister's statement about dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza

U.N. Ambassadors from China, Iran, Arab nations condemn Israeli minister's statement of nuclear bomb option in Gaza war. China's UN Ambassador Geng Shuang calls it "extremely irresponsible and disturbing" and urges Israel to join Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

China, Iran and a multitude of Arab nations condemned an Israeli minister’s statement that a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip was an option in the Israel-Hamas war, calling it a threat to the world.

At Monday’s long-planned opening of a United Nations conference whose goal is to establish a nuclear-free zone in West Asia, many Ambassadors expressed condemnations and criticisms of comments by Israel’s Heritage Minister Amihai Eliyahu, who later called his remarks in a radio interview on Sunday “metaphorical.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly disavowed the comments and suspended him from Cabinet meetings.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its nuclear capability. It is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons, and a former employee at its nuclear reactor served 18 years in Israeli prison for leaking details and pictures of Israel’s alleged nuclear arsenal program to a British newspaper in 1986.

Follow live updates from the Israel-Hamas war on November 14, 2023

China’s deputy UN ambassador Geng Shuang said Beijing was “shocked,” calling the statements “extremely irresponsible and disturbing” and should be universally condemned.

He urged Israeli officials to retract the statement and become a party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, considered the cornerstone of nuclear disarmament, as a non-nuclear weapon state “as soon as possible.”

Mr. Geng said China is ready to join other countries “to inject new impetus” to establishing a nuclear weapons-free zone in West Asia, saying there is greater urgency because of the situation in the current region.