Israel minister condemned for saying starvation of millions in Gaza might be ‘justified and moral’

The EU, France and UK have condemned a senior Israeli minister for suggesting it might be “justified and moral” to starve people in Gaza.

Israel’s finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, sparked international outrage after he said on Wednesday: “No one in the world will allow us to starve 2 million people, even though it might be justified and moral in order to free the hostages.”

Separately on Wednesday, Israel’s Channel 12 broadcasted security camera footage that reportedly showed the sexual assault of a Palestinian detainee from Gaza at Sde Teiman military detention camp. Last week, the detention of the soldiers accused of involvement in the alleged abuse sparked violent riots.

The White House called the reports of rape, torture and abuse of Palestinian prisoners “deeply concerning”.

In his speech this week, Smotrich said that Israel was “bringing in humanitarian aid because we have no choice. We are in a situation that requires international legitimacy to conduct this war.”

Related: Torture, abuse and humiliation: Palestinians on Israeli prison ‘hell’

The EU said the deliberate starvation of civilians was a “war crime” and that it expected the Israeli government to “unequivocally distance itself” from the words of the far-right minister.

France also criticised Smotrich, saying providing humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza is an “obligation under international humanitarian law” for Israel as it controls all access to the territory.

The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, called on “the wider Israeli government to retract and condemn” the remarks.

“International law could not be more clear – the deliberate starvation of civilians is a war crime,” he tweeted. “There can be no justification for Minister Smotrich’s remarks.”

Also on Wednesday, the US Department of State said Israel must fully investigate allegations of sexual abuse against Palestinian detainees by its soldiers.

Asked about the video aired by Israel’s Channel 12 that appeared to show soldiers taking a detainee out of sight of surveillance cameras to carry out abuses, a spokesperson, Matthew Miller, said US officials had reviewed the video.

“We have seen the video, and reports of sexual abuse of detainees are horrific,” Miller said. “There ought to be zero tolerance for sexual abuse, rape of any detainee, period … If there are detainees who have been sexually assaulted or raped, the government of Israel, the IDF need to fully investigate those actions.”

A spokesperson for Israel’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. The Israeli military, which runs some detention facilities where Palestinian prisoners have been held, said in response to earlier allegations that it operated according to the rule of law and any specific claims of abuse were investigated.

The investigation into the incident last week sparked protests by rightwing Israelis , who broke into two military facilities after military police detained nine soldiers at the Sde Teiman detention facility in southern Israel over allegations of severe abuse of a detainee captured in Gaza by army reservists.

“It is appropriate that the IDF in this case has announced an investigation has arrested a number of people who are alleged to have been involved,” Miller said.

“I won’t speak to the outcome of that investigation, but it ought to proceed swiftly, and if they are determined to be in violation of criminal laws or violations of the IDF’s code of conduct, then, of course, they ought to be held accountable.”

On Monday, the Guardian reported that interviews with released prisoners showed violence, extreme hunger, humiliation and other abuses of Palestinian prisoners had been normalised across Israel’s jail system.

Israeli rights group B’Tselem said in a report that mistreatment was now so systemic that it must be considered a policy of “institutionalised abuse”.

Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report