The Hamas Movement has strongly condemned Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s call to cut off water, electricity, and food from the Gaza Strip, describing it as an explicit admission of a genocidal policy and collective extermination against the Palestinian people.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Smotrich openly incited violence against Gaza’s population, saying, “Those who don’t die by gunfire will die of hunger.” He also suggested that the “population problem” in Gaza could be solved through voluntary emigration, while urging that no agreements be considered as long as Hamas remains capable of resurfacing.

In an evening statement, Hamas said Smotrich’s remarks represent a public call to continue Israel’s crimes until the annihilation and displacement of Palestinians in Gaza. The Movement emphasized that his statements amount to an official acknowledgment of the use of starvation and siege as weapons of war, crimes clearly prohibited under the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute.

Hamas further described Smotrich’s words as “an explicit admission of a forced displacement and ethnic cleansing project,” pointing out that they serve as concrete evidence for prosecuting Israeli leaders before the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The Movement stressed that Smotrich’s remarks are not an isolated extremist opinion, but rather a reflection of the declared and implemented policy of the Israeli government over the past 23 months. This policy, Hamas said, has been carried out through a blockade on food and medicine, the bombing of aid distribution centers, systematic destruction of infrastructure, and attempts at forced relocation of civilians.

“These statements expose the true face of the Israeli occupation,” the Hamas statement read. “They confirm that Gaza is not treated as a military battlefield, but as a project of mass extermination and forced displacement.”

Hamas concluded by urging the international community to recognize the genocidal intent behind Israel’s policies and take urgent action to hold its leaders accountable. It called on global institutions, particularly the ICC and ICJ, to treat Smotrich’s remarks as damning evidence of ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

The Movement reaffirmed that Gaza’s plight under siege is not an accidental byproduct of war, but a deliberate strategy aimed at erasing the Palestinian people from their land — a crime that requires immediate international intervention and justice. (ILKHA)