RIYADH: 萝莉视频 on Sunday condemned remarks from an Israeli minister who appeared to voice openness to the idea of Israel carrying out a nuclear strike on Gaza.

The Israeli minister鈥檚 comments showed the penetration of 鈥渆xtremism and brutality鈥� among members of the Israeli government, a Saudi Foreign Ministry statement said.

鈥淢oreover, not dismissing the minister and only freezing his membership constitutes the utmost disregard for all human standards and values,鈥� it added.

On Sunday Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu was suspended from government meetings 鈥渦ntil further notice鈥� after suggesting in an interview dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu鈥檚 office said. 

Eliyahu, an ultranationalist politician and part of Netanyahu鈥檚 ruling coalition, told Israel鈥檚 Kol Barama radio he was not entirely satisfied with the scale of Israel鈥檚 retaliation after Hamas fighters carried out a deadly attack on Oct. 7 inside southern Israel.

When the interviewer asked whether the Israeli minister advocated dropping 鈥渟ome kind of atomic bomb鈥� on the Gaza Strip 鈥渢o kill everyone,鈥� Eliyahu replied: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 one option.鈥�

Netanyahu鈥檚 office said Eliyahu鈥檚 statements 鈥渁re not based in reality. Israel and the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) are operating in accordance with the highest standards of international law to avoid harming innocents. We will continue to do so until our victory.鈥�

Eliyahu was also suspended from government meetings 鈥渦ntil further notice,鈥� Netanyahu鈥檚 office said, stressing that Israel was seeking to spare 鈥溾€漬on-combatants.鈥�

More than 9,700 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched operations in Gaza according to local authorities, stirring widening international concern at Israel鈥檚 tactics. The Hamas attacks on Oct. 7 killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, Israeli officials say.

The crisis prompted another troubleshooting visit to the Middle East by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken over the weekend.

鈥淥bviously, that was an objectionable statement, and the prime minister made very clear that he (Eliyahu) wasn鈥檛 speaking on behalf of the government,鈥� a senior US State Department official said.

Qatar鈥檚 Ministry of Foreign Affairs also condemned the Israeli minister鈥檚 statement as a 鈥渟erious incitement to a war crime and a disregard for humanitarian and moral values and international laws.鈥�

Jordan鈥檚 Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate Affairs condemned Eliyahu鈥檚 鈥渞acist, inflammatory, and provocative鈥� statements. 

It described the comment as a 鈥渃all for genocide and a hate crime that cannot be tolerated.鈥�

The ministry denounced it as a 鈥渃ondemnable incitement to murder and commit war crimes, in addition to the crimes committed against the people of the Gaza Strip.鈥�

A spokesperson for Hamas said Eliyahu represented 鈥渦nprecedented criminal Israeli terrorism (that) constitutes a danger to the entire region and the world.鈥�

Benny Gantz, a centrist ex-general who joined Netanyahu from the opposition in the streamlined war Cabinet, said Eliyahu鈥檚 remarks had been damaging 鈥渁nd, even worse, added to the pain of the hostages鈥� families at home.鈥�

Following the outcry over his remarks, Eliyahu later said in a social media post: 鈥淚t is clear to anyone sensible that the nuclear remark was metaphorical.鈥�

Israel has never admitted to having a nuclear bomb.

(With Agencies)