Smotrich: ‘Wipe town out’

Israel’s finance minister Betzalel Smotrich has called for the town of Huwara to be “wiped out”.

Smotrich, who made the comment yesterday, had previously liked a tweet on Sunday in which the deputy head of the Samaria Regional Council, Davidi Ben Zion, called for the town to be wiped out in response to the Palestinian terrorist attack that left two Israeli brothers dead (see tweet, top right).

When asked why he had liked the tweet, which was later deleted, Smotrich replied: a “natural response” to the Israeli occupation.

“Because I think the village of Huwara should be wiped out. I think the State of Israel should be the one to wipe it out, not, God forbid, private people,” he added.

Smotrich isn’t the only government official who has made highly controversial remarks regarding Huwara.

A far-right lawmaker from the Jewish Power Party, Limor Son Har-Melech, published a photo of herself at the entrance to Huwara on Sunday as the rampage was ongoing, saying she came to support the “protests”.

Separately, a terrorist attack on Monday killed Elan Ganeles (pictured top right), an Israeli American civilian. The 27-year-old was killed in a drive-by shooting on a highway near Jericho. According to the IDF, the Palestinian terrorists continued to shoot at two other cars on the highway before setting their own car on fire