ANKARA

Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir claimed Wednesday that US Republicans back his call for bombing food and aid stores in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.

The extremist minister took part in a dinner at US President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Tuesday evening, which was attended by Republicans and businessmen.

In a statement, he alleged that senior Republicans in Mar-a-Lago supported “his clear position on how to act in Gaza, and that the food and aid warehouses should be bombed."

This is the means "to create military and political pressure (on Hamas) to bring our hostages home safely," he claimed.

There was no immediate comment from the Republican Party on Ben-Gvir’s claim.

Ben-Gvir arrived in the US on Monday for his first official visit to Washington since joining the Benjamin Netanyahu government in 2022.

Israel currently believes that 24 of the 59 remaining hostages in Gaza are still alive. At the same time, more than 9,500 Palestinians are imprisoned in Israeli jails, with numerous reports of torture, starvation, and medical neglect leading to the deaths of detainees.

Since March 2, Israel has closed Gaza’s crossings, blocking essential supplies from entering the enclave despite multiple reports of famine in the war-devastated territory.

The Israeli army resumed its assault on Gaza on March 18, shattering a Jan. 19 ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement.

Israel has killed nearly 51,300 Palestinians in the enclave since October 2023, most of them women and children.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.