Arab nations, UN condemn Israeli minister’s ‘racist’ Palestine comments

DUBAI: The international community on Friday condemned what they say were “racist comments” by Israeli Minister of Finance, Betzalel Smotrich calling for the destruction of the Palestinian village of Huwara.

The UN human rights chief Volker Turk, speaking before the Human Rights Council in Geneva, denounced Smotrich’s original comments as “an unfathomable statement of incitement to violence and hostility.”

Turk, who formally presented a report on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories during the session, also urged an end to the violence.