The United Arab Emirates has strongly condemned comments by two Israeli ministers calling for Palestinians to emigrate from the Gaza Strip, AFP reports.

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for promoting “a solution to encourage the emigration of Gaza’s residents” and the re-establishment of Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory after far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich made similar comments.

The UAE, which normalised ties with Israel in 2020, “condemned in the strongest terms the extremist statements” of the two ministers.

The UAE voiced its “categorical rejection of such offensive statements and of all practices … which threaten further escalation and instability in the region”, the foreign ministry said in a statement.