‘Not a Single Grain of Wheat Will Enter Gaza’: Israeli Minister Smotrich

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich admitted on April 7, 2025, that “not even a grain of wheat will enter Gaza,” revealing a policy of deliberate starvation targeting Palestinians in the besieged enclave.

Smotrich’s remarks were a direct rebuttal to a Yedioth Ahronoth report suggesting that Israeli forces were gearing up to allow aid back into Gaza.

On March 2, as Ramadan began, Israel blocked all humanitarian aid, including food and fuel, from entering the Gaza Strip. Days later, it severed electricity to Gaza’s main desalination plant, stripping 500,000 Palestinians of drinking water.

Amnesty International has warned that this deprivation of essentials like food and water suggests a deliberate intent to create unlivable conditions, aimed at the destruction of the Palestinian population—a pattern consistent with genocide.

The toll is staggering: over 50,700 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, predominantly women and children, with 1,400 more deaths and 3,400 injuries since March 18, despite a ceasefire agreement.

Smotrich, known for his far-right views, has remained steadfast in his approach, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has escalated military operations, including deploying troops to establish the so-called "Morag Corridor" which is aimed to sever Rafah—Gaza’s southernmost city—from the rest of the Strip.

The starvation policy stands out as particularly brutal—21 malnutrition treatment centers have closed, leaving families without recourse as hunger spreads. In Gaza, the closure of crossings has left 11,000 people unaccounted for amid the rubble, compounding the crisis.

Smotrich’s refusal to allow even minimal aid underscores the severity of the situation. Each blocked shipment and withheld meal deepens a tragedy that appears relentlessly orchestrated.

The international community’s silence in the face of this suffering is deafening. While debates over the scale of the crisis persist, the human cost—starving families, collapsed healthcare, and relentless loss—demands urgent attention.

Gaza’s people need more than expressions of concern; they require immediate action to lift the starvation siege and address the profound injustices unfolding before the world’s eyes.