The United States condemned on Wednesday the comments made by far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who called for the Palestinian town of Huwwara to be “wiped out”, slamming the remarks as “repugnant, irresponsible and disgusting”, the news website Axios reported.
During a conference on Wednesday, Smotrich was asked why he liked a tweet about the settler violence in Huwwara and he reportedly said:
“Because I think the village of Huwwara needs to be wiped out. I think the state of Israel should do it.”
US State Department Ned Price called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly disavow Smotrich’s comments, defining them as an “incitement to violence”.
According to Axios, Smotrich retracted his statement and “blamed the media for manipulating his comments”.
On Sunday, illegal Jewish Settlers, escorted by Israeli occupation forces, assaulted the town of Huwwara, near Nablus and torched several homes and cars. At least one Palestinian was killed and hundreds were wounded.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
