The largest pro-Israel lobbying group in the US appears to have dropped its endorsement of Republican lawmaker Randy Fine after he endorsed the mass starvation of Palestinians in Gaza.
"Release the hostages. Until then, starve away," the Florida representative wrote in a social media post on 22 July.
"(This is all a lie anyway. It amazes me that the media continues to regurgitate Muslim terror propaganda.)"
The American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) had backed the Jewish Republican against Democrat Josh Weil in the congressional election earlier this year.
However, his name was no longer featured in the lobby's list of endorsed candidates as of Monday evening.
AIPAC has not commented publicly on Fine's comments.
Fine has made a number of incendiary comments about Gaza in recent months. He called for Gaza to be nuked in a Fox News interview in May, while on Sunday he denied that mass hunger was sweeping Gaza, writing on X: "There is no starvation. Everything about the “Palestinian” cause is a lie."
The Council on American–Islamic Relations has designated him as an "anti-Muslim extremist" for his "violent, dehumanizing rhetoric" towards Palestinians and Muslims.
Fine was also criticised by another prominent pro-Israel advocacy group the American Jewish Committee for his "starve away" comment.
"The serious humanitarian situation in Gaza must not be taken lightly, especially by those at the highest levels of government. Implying that starvation is a legitimate tactic is unacceptable," it wrote earlier this month.
Fine has even attracted criticism among fellow Republican lawmakers, with far-right representative Marjorie Taylor Greene slamming him for his comments.
"A Jewish US representative calling for the continued starvation of innocent people and children is disgraceful," she wrote on X on Monday. "His awful statement will actually cause more antisemitism."