If it were up to him, former president Rodrigo Duterte said he would pulverize Gaza to end the threat of Hamas after he condemned the group's attacks that claimed the lives of hundreds of people in Israel, including two Filipinos.

Duterte said this in SMNI program "Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa" on Tuesday evening, Oct. 10.

The former president said that if he were Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he would make Gaza "the world's biggest cemetery".

"Pulpugin ko 'yang (I will crush) Hamas. Sabihin ko (I'll tell them), 'Umalis kayong lahat diyan (All of you leave the place). I'm giving you 48 hours. Kapag hindi (If not), well, I'm putting you on notice. I will level it to the ground para wala nang Gaza. No more Gaza to fight for,'" Duterte said.

"'I will make it a dead place. The good ones, the innocent ones, umatras kayo kasi pulpugin ko ito (back off because I will pulverize it). And I will make it the biggest cemetery in the world.' Kung ako, iyan talaga ang gawin ko (That's what I would do if it were up to me)," he added.

Duterte lamented how the war affected Filipinos who were just in Israel to work.

"We will hold responsible itong Hamas, which has befallen the people in Gaza. At ang masakit, pati yung ating mga kababayan (What hurts is even our countrymen) who are there just to earn a living. Masakit sa atin iyan (That's painful for us), at we are condemning it," he said.

The former president took a swipe at the present administration for supposedly staying quiet amid the ongoing war. Malacañang condemned the attacks on Sunday, Oct. 8.

"I have not heard our government coming up with a statement," Duterte claimed.

"I don't know if there is one coming up, but every day, I read the national papers. Wala akong narinig (I have not heard them) condemning this atrocious act," he added.

"Any human being— hindi na kailangan na maging presidente ka o prime minister (You don't have to be president or prime minister)— should express what is evil," he continued.

According to Duterte, the ongoing armed conflict between Israel and Hamas is a "proxy war" between Israel, Iran, and "radical Arab states."

"Alam ng Israel na itong (Israel knows that) Iran funded, organized, and husbanded the organization," he said.

"So there is a possibility, I think, that Iran would be bombed by an atomic bomb," he added.