Republican Senator Lindsey Graham Suggests Israel Drop Nuclear Bombs Over Gaza, Justifies Hiroshima Bombing

Senator Lindsey Graham faced criticism for drawing comparisons between Israel’s Rafah offensive and the US decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan’s Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

“When we were faced with destruction as a nation after Pearl Harbor, fighting the Germans and the Japanese, we decided to end the war by bombing Hiroshima, Nagasaki with nuclear weapons,” Graham was quoted as saying by NBC.

Graham urged Israel to “do whatever you have to do” while speaking to the broadcaster’s anchor Kristin Welker.

Israel continued to fight Hamas in Rafah this week, despite US warnings against a full-scale assault on the south Gaza city that is crowded with displaced Palestinians.

The two atomic blasts and the radiation that followed are estimated to have killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people – most of them civilians and caused widespread health problems to the descendants of the victims who survived.

Graham said the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the ‘right decision’.

“Give Israel the bombs they need to end the war they can’t afford to lose and work with them to minimise casualties,” Graham said.

“Why is it okay for America to drop two nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end their existential threat war. Why was it okay to do that? I thought it was okay,” he continued, at times speaking over his host.

“To Israel, do whatever you have to do to survive as a Jewish state. Whatever you have to do,” he said.

Israel last week defied a chorus of warnings — including from top ally Washington which paused a shipment of bombs — and sent tanks and troops into the east of Rafah to pursue militants.

Graham had opposed the Biden administration’s decision of pausing the shipment. He also said civilian deaths cannot be stopped in Gaza because Hamas allegedly uses Palestinians living there as human shields.

“It’s impossible to mitigate civilian deaths in Gaza as long as Hamas uses their own population as human shields. I’ve never seen in the history of warfare such blatant efforts by an enemy, Hamas, to put civilians at risk. And the last thing you want to do is reward this behaviour,” he further added.