Izzat al-Rishq’s remarks came shortly after the Israeli army announced that it had discovered the bodies of six hostages in Gaza, asserting that they had been killed by Hamas.

“The ones who kill our people daily are the Israeli colonizers with American weapons. The hostages found in Gaza were not killed by us but by the relentless Zionist bombardment,” Rishq said in a statement.

He further criticized the U.S., saying, “If President [Joe] Biden truly cares about the lives of Israeli hostages, he should cease his support for this enemy with money and weapons and pressure Israel to end its aggression immediately.”