State Department spokesperson Ned Price condemned Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's call to destroy the Palestinian village Hawara as "irresponsible, repugnant, and disgusting," reported Axios.
Smotrich's fiery rhetoric drew criticism from opposition leader Yair Lapid.
"Minister Smotrich's call to 'wipe out Hawara' is incitement to a war crime," tweeted Lapid. "Jews do not commit pogroms and Jews do not wipe out villages. This government has gone off the rails."
Smotrich, who is a minister in the Ministry of Defense, later walked back his statements.
He said the media capitalized on his words and that he did not mean for Hawara to be destroyed but rather "only to act in a surgical way against terrorists and their supporters in the village in order to restore the security," reported Axios.
Still, tensions rose as two Israeli brothers driving through Hawara were gunned down by a Palestinian. Hundreds of Israelis amassed in Hawara, assaulting Palestinians and laying waste to properties. Dozens of Palestinians were injured, and one was killed.
Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fuchs, head of the military’s Central Command in charge of the West Bank, said the attack was "a pogrom," which is a mob attack typically allowed by authorities against different minorities. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the term was used when addressing attacks on Jews.
Price condemned Smotrich's word as "incitement to violence," according to Axios. He then called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to disavow Smotrich's rhetoric. He has yet to do so.
The Palestinian minister for civilian affairs, Hussein al-Sheikh, tweeted, "This requires international human rights organizations to prosecute this terrorist on charges of calling for massacres against Palestinians."
Amid the chaos, U.S. Secretary of Defense Llyod Austin will be visiting Israel next Wednesday, according to Axios. His visit is meant to temper the escalating tensions in the occupied West Bank during the upcoming Ramadan and Passover.
Smotrich will travel to the U.S. soon after, in the second week of March, to meet with the Israel Bonds organization.
Information from Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this report.
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