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Joan Rivers has defended her astonishing rant where she said innocent ­Palestinian civilians “deserved to die”.

The Hollywood star faced a furious backlash after she defended Israel’s bombing of Gaza that has left thousands dead and wounded, including children, after being asked by a celebrity website about the rising death toll in Gaza.

She has since claimed her opinions were taken out of context in a statement posted on her official Facebook page.

"I am both saddened and disappointed that my statement about the tragedy of civilian casualties was totally taken out of context. What I said and stand behind is, war is hell and unfortunately civilians are victims of political conflicts.

"We, The United States, certainly know this as 69 years later we still feel the guilt of Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

In the shocking clip, Joan, 81, says into camera: “The dead? You deserve to be dead. You started it.

(Image: Splash)

“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.

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.”

Read Fleet Street Fox on why Joan Rivers is not the only idiot in town.