Israeli finance minister urges Gaza style war in occupied West Bank

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called for the military to wage a full-scale war in the occupied West Bank, urging that the same tactics used in Gaza be applied there. He also spoke of annexing southern Lebanon and parts of Gaza that remain under Israeli control.

In an interview published by Ynet News on Sunday, Smotrich said Israel should launch a war in what he referred to by the biblical terms Judea and Samaria, and repeat there what had been done in Gaza. His remarks come roughly a month before Israel's general election, a period that has coincided with increased violence by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied territories, along with growing hostility toward Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Asked how Israel should respond to rising security tensions in the West Bank, Smotrich said he believed the answer lay in dismantling the Palestinian Authority, which he described as a body enabling terrorism. He argued that just as Hamas had been dismantled in Gaza, the Israeli military should ensure there is no militant infrastructure, weapons or tunnels in the West Bank.

Smotrich, who along with fellow cabinet member Itamar Ben-Gvir has faced sanctions from several Western governments, is known for making inflammatory remarks about Palestinians. Since the start of Israel's ongoing war in Gaza, Israeli forces have intensified operations in the West Bank, detaining thousands of Palestinians, many without formal charges, while settler attacks in the territory have continued largely unchecked.