Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Asif on Thursday in a controversial statement urged the United States and Turkey to “kidnap” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if they believed in justice and humanity, over the Israel-Gaza conflict. In a televised interview, whose clips have now gone viral on social media, Asif said the US should apprehend Netanyahu “just as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was taken away.”

He added that Turkey could also seize the Israeli leader, and “Pakistanis are praying for it.”Describing Netanyahu as the “worst criminal of humanity,” Asif claimed that “no atrocities in history match those committed against Palestinians in Gaza.” He added, “No community has done what Israel has done to Palestinians in the last 4,000-5,000 years. He [Netanyahu] is the biggest criminal of humanity. The world has not seen a bigger criminal.” Asif also appeared to raise the issue of penalising those he termed as enablers of such crimes, beginning a sentence with, “And what does the law say about those who support such criminals…” before the show’s anchor, Hamid Mir, interjected and called for a break. Mir warned that Asif’s remarks risked being interpreted as a veiled reference to US President Donald Trump, and indicated that Asif would not remain on air after the break. Pakistan does not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel and has historically expressed strong support for the Palestinian cause. Islamabad also maintains close ties with Iran, another regional critic of Israeli policies.The international criminal court (ICC) has previously issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu in connection with alleged war crimes in Gaza, a legal development referenced during the interview.