Netanyahu backs settler attacks in west bank, signals move to annex territory

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday evening encouraged settlers to continue their attacks on Palestinian citizens in the occupied West Bank, while hinting at its imminent annexation under Israeli sovereignty.

Netanyahu made his remarks during a ceremony marking the approval of 17 new settlements in the West Bank, according to Israel’s Channel 7.

Speaking about the daily assaults carried out by settlers against Palestinians, he said: “The entire people of Israel trust the heroism of our sons.” He added: “From Judea and Samaria [the biblical term for the West Bank] and from all parts of the Land of Israel, we are protecting this land.”

Alongside the ongoing war in Gaza, the Israeli army and settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have killed at least 1,016 Palestinians, injured around 7,000 others, and arrested more than 18,500, according to Palestinian figures.

Netanyahu also said: “I promised 25 years ago that we would plant our roots, and we did so together. I said we would prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, and we are doing that together.”

He continued by saying that Israel is “strengthening its sovereignty” in the West Bank and blocking any chance of a Palestinian state. “I said we would build and keep parts of our land and homeland, and that is what we are doing,” he declared.

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