Amid rising starvation in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli government minister said Thursday that Israel had no duty to alleviate hunger in the territory and was seeking to expel its population.

Amichay Eliyahu, a far-right lawmaker who leads Israel’s Heritage Ministry, said in a radio interview that “there is no nation that feeds its enemies,” adding that “the British didn’t feed the Nazis, nor did the Americans feed the Japanese, nor do the Russians feed the Ukrainians now.” He concluded that the government was “rushing toward Gaza being wiped out,” while also “driving out the population that educated its people on the ideas of ‘Mein Kampf,’ ” the notorious antisemitic text written by Adolf Hitler.

The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to comment on whether Eliyahu’s remarks had represented the government’s official position.

An Israeli military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity , said Eliyahu’s comments did not reflect military policy. Eliyahu oversees historical and archaeological sites and institutions in Israel and has no authority over the Israeli military. He does not participate in meetings of a small group of ministers who oversee security decisions. His office did not reply to requests for clarification.

Eliyahu’s comments were swiftly condemned by Israeli opposition politicians, who said the minister did not represent the Israeli mainstream.

Polling suggests a majority of Israelis favor reaching a ceasefire to release hostages held by Hamas.

Eliyahu’s interview came amid increasing cases of starvation in Gaza. Israel — which controls all access to Gaza — blocked all food deliveries to the enclave between early March and late May.

While Israel now allows some food into Gaza, it has drastically reduced the number of places from which food is distributed, forcing Palestinians to receive food aid from a handful of sites that are hard to access. In a crude form of crowd control, Israeli soldiers have repeatedly shot and killed scores of Palestinians along routes leading to the new food distribution sites, forcing civilians to choose between the risk of gunfire and the risk of starvation.

After initially dismissing the reports of starvation, Eliyahu appeared to recognize its occurrence by blaming Hamas for it.

“We are starving them? They are starving them!” Eliyahu said in an interview with Kol Barama, a radio station popular among ultra-Orthodox Jewish Israelis.

“The day they return the hostages, there will be no hunger there,” he said.

While Eliyahu’s comments echo some made by other members of Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, they were criticized by politicians outside the government.

Yair Lapid, the centrist leader of Israel’s political opposition, said in a statement that Eliyahu’s comments were “a moral stain and a public diplomacy disaster. Israel will never convince the world of the justness of our war against terror as long as we are led by an extremist minority government with ministers who glorify blood and death.”

Lapid added that Israeli soldiers “do not fight, die, and get injured to erase a civilian population.

They fight to return the hostages and ensure Israel’s security.”

A large majority of Israelis support a diplomatic deal to free the hostages held in Gaza, instead of continued military efforts to defeat Hamas, according to recent polling. Protesters were expected to gather in Tel Aviv on Thursday night to call for an immediate ceasefire and hostage release deal.

Early in the war, Eliyahu attracted global attention for suggesting that Israel might drop a nuclear bomb on Gaza.

Netanyahu condemned those comments and suspended him from the Cabinet, before swiftly reinstating him.

Meanwhile Thursday, the United States said it is cutting short Gaza ceasefire talks and bringing its negotiating team home from Qatar to discuss next steps after Hamas’ latest response “shows a lack of desire” to reach a truce, President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said.

“While the mediators have made a great effort, Hamas does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith,” Witkoff said in a statement. “We will now consider alternative options to bring the hostages home and try to create a more stable environment for the people of Gaza.”

State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott would not offer details on what “alternative options” the U.S. is considering to free hostages held by the militant group.

Hamas said in a statement that it was surprised by Witkoff’s “negative remarks” and said it has shown responsibility and flexibility in the negotiating track. It added that it was “keen to reach an agreement that ends the aggression and the suffering of our people in Gaza.”

This story contains material from the Associated Press.