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Joan Rivers faced a furious backlash tonight after an astonishing rant in which she said innocent ­Palestinian civilians “deserved to die”.

The American comedian defended Israel’s bombing of Gaza that has left thousands dead and wounded, including children. Rivers was asked, by a celebrity website, about the rising death toll in Gaza.

The 81-year-old replied: “The dead? You deserve to be dead. You started it.

“Don’t you dare make me feel sad about that.”

When told that almost 2,000 civilians had been killed, she said dismissively: “Oh my God! Tell that to the people in Hiroshima.

“Good. Good. When you declare war, you declare war. They started it.” Asked what she felt about the Hamas government, she added: “They are terrorists. They were re-elected by a lot of very stupid people.

“They were told to get out. They didn’t get out. You don’t get out, you are an idiot. At least the ones that were killed were the ones with low IQs.”

The comments from Rivers, whose parents were Russian Jews, provoked a furious response on Twitter.

(Image: Splash)

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One user calling themselves Makki wrote: “Can’t wait until you burn in hell.”

And another, Christina Barnes, added: “Joan Rivers is a hateful shrew. I’d never buy or watch anything she peddles.”

Police in Britain are investigating Respect MP George Galloway, 59, after he ­allegedly declared Bradford “an Israel-free zone”.

He is reported to have said in a speech at the weekend that Israelis were not welcome in the city, where he has a constituency.

Filmed in Leeds in front of the Palestinian flag, he claimed: “We don’t want any Israeli goods. We don’t want any Israeli services.

“We don’t want any Israeli academics at the university or college. We reject this illegal, barbarous, savage state that calls itself Israel.”

West Yorkshire Police said it had “received two separate complaints about comments attributed to Mr Galloway”.

Read Fleet Street Fox on Joan Rivers, George Galloway and Gaza.