By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON (AA) - The US on Monday sharply denounced comments from a number of Israeli ministers who called for the resettlement of the besieged Gaza Strip as the war continues to ravage the coastal enclave.
"You got a couple of ministers in the cabinet using this reckless behavior, or conducting this reckless behavior, and making these incendiary comments," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters at the White House.
"These are individual cabinet members. They can speak for themselves and what they said and what they did. It doesn't comport with our view, and we find it reckless," he added.
Israeli ultranationalist settlers held a conference on Gaza's resettlement Sunday. It called for the resettlement of the Gaza Strip as well as expanded settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.
Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir attended the event alongside other ministers and called for the “voluntary migration” of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, saying "it’s time to return home to Gush Katif" — the name of one of the Israeli settlements that was dismantled from the enclave in 2005 when Israel disengaged there.
Bezalel Smotrich, Israel's finance minister, also backed resettlement, telling a jubilant crowd that without it, "there is no security."
The UN considers Israeli settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territories illegal and has repeatedly called on Israel to cease it, to no avail. It has warned that these acts undermine a potential resolution to the conflict based on a two-state solution.