Palestinian foreign ministry condemns Smotrich’s call for Gaza-style war in West Bank

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry on Sunday condemned Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s call for Israel to wage war in the occupied West Bank and carry out military operations similar to those conducted in Gaza and dismantle the Palestinian Authority.

Smotrich told Israel’s Ynet that Israel needed to “go to war in Judea and Samaria,” using the biblical name for the West Bank, and “do there what we did in Gaza.” He also called for dismantling the Palestinian Authority, which he described as a “terror authority.”

Smotrich said Israeli forces should eliminate what he described as militant infrastructure in the West Bank, saying there should be “no terrorists, no weapons and no tunnels.”

In response, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates described the remarks as dangerous and said they amounted to a call for further military escalation in the West Bank.

The ministry argued that Smotrich’s statements reflected efforts to advance annexation and displacement and undermine prospects for establishing an independent Palestinian state.

It also defended the Palestinian Authority and institutions of the State of Palestine, describing them as a central part of the Palestinian national project and holding the Israeli government responsible for the consequences of any attempt to dismantle or undermine them.

The ministry warned that a lack of international action in response to such statements could contribute to further escalation and instability in the region.

It called on the international community, particularly the UN Security Council and the United States, to take what it described as immediate and concrete measures to halt Israeli military actions, settlement expansion, annexation and displacement in the West Bank and to protect Palestinian institutions.

Smotrich, who leads the Religious Zionism party and is a senior member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition, has previously advocated Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank and opposed the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. His latest remarks also included calls for Israel to annex territory in Gaza and southern Lebanon.