The US State Department issued a sharp reprimand on Tuesday for statements by two Israeli ministers in prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right coalition government suggesting that Palestinian civilians should voluntarily leave Gaza and press for the return of Israeli settlements in the Strip as part of a long-term solution to the war.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller issued a statement criticizing the officials by name - Itamar Ben - Gvir, Minister of national security, and Bezalel Smotrich, Minister of Finance-calling their comments "inflammatory and irresponsible".
"The government of Israel has repeatedly told us, including the prime minister, that such statements do not reflect the policy of the Israeli government,"Mr. Miller said. "They should stop immediately."
Speaking at a meeting on Monday of his Otzma Yehudit party in the Israeli parliament, Mr. Ben-Gvir said that the war with Hamas provided "an opportunity to focus on encouraging the emigration of Gazans," according to the Times of Israel, saying that it would be a "correct, just, moral and humane solution".
"We cannot withdraw from any territory where we are in the Gaza Strip . I not only exclude Jewish settlement there, but I think it's also something important."
Mr. Smotrich told his religious Zionist party, according to the same report in the Times of Israel, that the "right solution" to the war was to "encourage voluntary migration of Gazans to countries that will agree to receive refugees," and that Israel would "permanently control the territory of the Gaza Strip," including through the establishment of settlements.
In his statement, Mr. Miller said: "We have been clear, consistent and unequivocal in our belief that Gaza is Palestinian territory and will remain Palestinian territory, with Hamas no longer in control of its future and with no terrorist groups capable of threatening Israel . This is the future we seek, for the benefit of Israelis and Palestinians, the surrounding region, and the world."
Both Mr. Ben-Gvir and Mr. Smotrich are residents of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which the United States and much of the world consider illegal.
Israel removed all of its settlements in Gaza, and a few small settlements in the West Bank, under the "separation plan" organized by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2005, which the Israeli Foreign Ministry describes as an attempt "to improve Israel's security and international status in the absence of peace negotiations with the Palestinians".
Mr. Netanyahu, then the Israeli finance minister, resigned over the removal of settlements, warning that it would leave Gaza vulnerable to capture by armed groups such as Hamas.
