US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price condemned Israeli far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich who said that the Palestinian town of Huwara “needs to be erased.”
“And just as we condemn Palestinian incitement to violence, we condemn these provocative remarks that also amount to incitement to violence,” Price said at a State Department briefing.
Smotrich’s comments came days after two Israeli brothers were shot and killed on Sunday in the town, prompting Israeli settlers to seek retribution by burning cars and homes, killing at least one man.
“I think the village of Huwara needs to be erased,” Smotrich told a reporter at a conference run by the Israeli business magazine The Marker. “I think the State of Israel needs to do this, and not – God forbid – private citizens.”
Price also called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “and other senior Israeli officials to publicly and clearly reject and disavow these comments.”
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