ANKARA

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Maliki has filed a formal complaint with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) against Israel over its minister's threat to drop a nuclear bomb on Gaza.

According to the Palestinian official news agency Wafa, al-Malki sent an official letter to IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi on Wednesday, stating that the nuclear threat is "completely consistent with the prevailing discourse in Israel" against Palestinians.

Al-Maliki added that the threat entails "an official recognition that Israel possesses nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction."

In the letter, the Palestinian top diplomat urged the UN nuclear watchdog and all of its member states to condemn Israel and take action against the threat of dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza.

On Sunday, Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, a member of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, told Israeli media that dropping a "nuclear bomb" on Gaza is "an option."

Israel has long refused to publicly acknowledge whether it possesses nuclear weapons.

Israel launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestine resistance group, Hamas, on Oct. 7.​​​​​​​

At least 10,569 Palestinians, including 4,324 children and 2,823 women, have been killed.

The Israeli death toll nears 1,600, according to official figures.