Smotrich: Israel must ‘go to war’ in West Bank, ‘do there what we did in Gaza’

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called for Israel to "go to war" in the occupied West Bank and "do there what we did in Gaza". According to Middle East Eye, Smotrich also demanded the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian foreign ministry warned that Smotrich's statements amount to an explicit call for intensified violence and annexation.

Smotrich also suggested that Israel should annex areas up to the ceasefire line in Gaza and the Litani River in Lebanon, as reported by The Times of Israel. The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates stated that these calls represent an explicit invitation to escalate aggression and commit further crimes against the Palestinian people.

The Israeli military is reinforcing its deployment across the West Bank amid concerns over potential terrorist attacks, as reported by the Jerusalem Post. The move comes as hundreds of thousands of Israelis are expected to visit nature sites, prayer sites, and public events throughout the area during the intermediate holiday days.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Times of Israel, Middle East Eye, Ajel English, Haaretz, Jerusalem Post — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.