The US Department of State called the remarks by Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir “inflammatory and irresponsible.” The Department of State statement was seen as an unprompted rebuke, calling out a pair of Israeli ministers by name.
The Israeli national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, had called for Palestinians in Gaza to be resettled outside the Strip. Ben-Gvir’s cabinet colleague Bezalel Smotrich had backed the idea, saying it would make way for the Israelis who could “make the desert bloom.”
Source: Crux
