Saturday, the Minister of Finance in the Israeli Occupation's government Bezalel Smotrich retracted his statements about "wiping out" the town of Hawara in Nablus.

According to the "The Times of Israel," Smotrich referred to those remarks as a "slip of the tongue" and came out amid "a surge of feelings."

Smotrich refused to refer to the actions of Israeli Occupation settlers, who stormed the town of Hawara and set fire to homes and cars, as "terrorism."

Instead, he described the behavior as "a very serious national crime, but it is not terrorism," according to the Hebrew newspaper.

- Washington boycotts Smotrich -

Washington decided to boycott Smotrich following his remarks about Huwara, according to the Hebrew Channel 12.

This came after Washington criticized his statements Wednesday; US State Department spokesperson Ned Price described them as "irresponsible and disgusting."

Price called on the Israeli Occupation's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials to publicly denounce Smotrich's remarks.

- Thousands of Americans signed a petition -

Earlier, more than 5,000 Americans signed a petition calling for preventing Smotrich from entering the US and revoking his visa.

In a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the petition, organized by Adalah Justice Project, said the United States must ban Smotrich from entering the US for his scheduled trip in March “because of his statements that call for violence and atrocities against the Palestinian people.”

Also Read: American petition demands Smotrich be denied entry to US