Tel Aviv: Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has insisted that there is no such thing as a Palestinian people or Palestinian history or culture.

The minister in charge of running the occupied West Bank made controversial statements during a visit to France on Sunday.

Smotrich was speaking at a memorial service for Jacques Kupfer, a well-known Zionist and activist of the right-wing Likud party who died in 2021.

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A map of the so-called "Greater Israel", which appears to include the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza and Jordan, was draped over the lectern where the minister spoke. The video of the incident, which was widely shared online, shows this.

"Do Palestinians have a history or culture? None exist. There is no such thing as a Palestinian people," the politician declared to cheers from the audience.

Smotrich, who settled in the occupied West Bank, also emphasized his identity as a genuine Palestinian, referring to his late grandfather as a "true Palestinian" and a "13th-generation Jerusalemite".

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Palestinian officials were outraged by the controversial comments and labeled them "racist" and "extremist". Smotrich's denial of the existence of Palestinians was condemned by the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, which claimed that such statements "foster an atmosphere that fuels Jewish extremism and terrorism against our people."

Smotrich, famous for his hardline Zionism and frequent anti-Palestinian remarks, has sparked a second significant controversy this month.

The minister advocated "wiping out" the Palestinian town of Huwara earlier in the month after a Palestinian gunman shot and killed two of the Israeli settlers who rioted there. At least one Huwara, Palestine, resident of Palestinian origin was killed in the riot.

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The minister later apologized, saying that he "did not mean that the city of Huwara should be wiped out," but that Israel should "act in a targeted manner against terrorists and supporters of terrorism." The remark drew widespread criticism.