US slams Israeli ministers’ ‘inflammatory’ calls for Palestinians to leave Gaza

WASHINGTON — The US State Department on Tuesday slammed comments made by far-right Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir advocating for the resettlement of Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip. 

“This rhetoric is inflammatory and irresponsible,” State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said in a rare statement criticizing two Israeli officials by name. 

“We have been told repeatedly and consistently by the government of Israel, including by the prime minister, that such statements do not reflect the policy of the Israeli government,” Miller said. “They should stop immediately.”

The US statement came after Smotrich, the country’s finance minister and leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party, said that Israel should “encourage voluntary emigration” from Gaza, which is home to some 2.3 million Palestinians.