Washington DC - Senator Bernie Sanders has once again slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government's attacks on Gaza as "ethnic cleansing."

Appearing on CNN's State of the Union, Sanders was asked to comment on remarks last week by Congresswoman Ilhan Omar during her visit to Columbia University, the epicenter of the Palestine solidarity student protest movement.

"I think it is really unfortunate that people don’t care about the fact that all Jewish kids should be kept safe, and that we should not have to tolerate antisemitism or bigotry for all Jewish students, whether they are pro-genocide or anti-genocide," the Minnesota Democrat said.

Asked whether he had a problem with Omar casting some Jewish students as "pro-genocide," Sanders, who is Jewish, responded: "What I think the essential point that Ilhan made is that we do not want to see antisemitism in this country. And I think the word 'genocide' is something that is being determined by the International Court of Justice."

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"I don’t think there’s any doubt that what Netanyahu is doing now – displacing 80% of the population in Gaza – is ethnic cleansing. That’s what it is. Pushing out huge numbers of people," he added.

Over 200 days into the Israeli siege, the prospects are looking graver and graver for the people of Gaza, over 34,000 of whom have been killed since October.

The International Court of Justice earlier this year ruled there is a "plausible" case Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, but that hasn't stopped the US government from sending billions more in military aid to the Netanyahu government.

"Now we’re looking at the possibility of an attack on Rafah, where people have gone to as a so-called safety zone. So, what’s going on there, again, to my mind, is outrageous. And as you’ve indicated, I strongly oppose US funding for Netanyahu’s war machine," Sanders told CNN's Dana Bash.

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"Right now, what Netanyahu's right-wing extremist and racist government is doing is unprecedented in the modern history of warfare," the Vermont Independent continued. "And right now, we are looking at the possibility of mass starvation and famine in Gaza."

"When you make those charges, that is not antisemitic. That is reality."