Joan Rivers attacked what she believes to be the Western media's misrepresentation of the Israel-Gaza conflict. The actress and comedian - never shy to air her views on current affairs - used a New York-New Jersey analogy to highlight her thoughts on the crisis in the Middle East.

Joan RiversJoan Rivers has weighed into the Israel-Gaza debate

"Let me tell you, if New Jersey were firing rockets into New York, we would wipe them out," she told TMZ.

"If we heard they were digging tunnels from New Jersey to New York, we would get rid of Jersey."

She said: "You cannot throw rockets and expect people not to defend themselves."

Quizzed on the deaths of around 800 Palestinian civilians so far, Rivers pointed the finger at those firing rockets. 

"I'm sorry, don't you dare put weapon stashes in private homes and then we say get out - of course we're going to do it."

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The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Hamas of using human shields to gather dead Palestinians for their cause, though Rivers wasn't interested in speculating on who started the conflict.

"I don't care. They started it.You're all insane. They started it! What are you all saying? They started it!"

The comedian specifically singled out the BBC and CNN for criticism, saying that they should be "ashamed" of their coverage.