Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a situation assessment meeting amid “a series of additional defensive and offensive operations” in the West Bank, according to the Times of Israel.
The meeting, attended by several senior Israeli security officials, including Defense Minister Israel Katz and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, followed an attack in the Palestinian village of Al-Funduk, which resulted in the death of three Israelis.
Smotrich calls for 'Jabalia-style' eradication
Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right politician with convictions rooted in Zionism, said: “Al-Funduk, Nablus, and Jenin need to look like Jabalia", the northern Gaza's city subject to an Israeli campaign of ethnic cleansing.
Israeli forces have pounded Jabalia nearly into oblivion, with more than 70 percent of its structures destroyed throughout the 15-month war. Once known as the largest refugee camp to house Palestinians after the 1948 forced displacement, the name “Jabalia” now brings to mind Israeli attacks’ repeated targeting of civilians.
Smotrich claimed that to maintain Israeli security, the Palestinian Authority should not be trusted to maintain security, comparing attacks in the West Bank to attacks on Israeli forces in Gaza and attacks by Iran.
The extremist Israeli minister then demanded “an urgent cabinet meeting today to discuss a change in outlook,” signalling a potential recalibration of Israeli policies towards the West Bank.
In response to Smotrich’s statements, Hamas released a statement that called him a “terrorist” and described his demands as “a blatant call to expand the fascist war of extermination.”
Hamas said that the expansion of the war to the West Bank would include “the ethnic cleansing and forced displacement occurring in the northern part of the strip.”
“This is part of the far-right Zionist plans to cement control over the West Bank and expel its residents.”
The Palestinian resistance group further called on the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to intervene, holding the “Zionist war criminals accountable for their ongoing incitement, criminal plans, and practices that violate all humanitarian laws.”
Extending sovereignty to the West Bank
This expansion of activities is only the latest announced by the Israeli government, potentially part of an effort to leverage sporadic attacks against Israelis to push into the West Bank.
Smotrich has been championing efforts to extend Israeli illegal occupation over the West Bank, even touting the election of Donald Trump as a potential path to expand Israeli settlements by 2025.
"We hope the incoming US administration, under President Trump, will recognize our efforts to extend sovereignty to the West Bank," he said.
Smotrich, like other Israeli politicians, shares beliefs that the genocidal war in Gaza and starving Palestinians to death in Gaza “might be justified and moral.”
As the death toll in Israel’s war on Gaza edges towards 50,000 and after the number of those wounded jumps to far more than 100,000, Israeli forces show no sign of slowing down the violence.
New policies streamline settlement growth
In parallel, measures to expand even more control over the West Bank, displacing the native Palestinian population, are arguably accelerating.
The Israeli settlement monitoring group Peace Now reported Monday that the Higher Planning Council (HPC), the body responsible for approving and overseeing construction and zoning plans for settlements, will meet on Wednesday for the sixth consecutive week to discuss construction plans for 448 housing units in the occupied West Bank.
"Under the current Netanyahu government, settlement construction has reached unprecedented levels.”
In 2023, the council approved 12,349 units, which the group described as a “historic high.”
In 2024, the council approved 9,884 units.
The monitoring group warned that if the current pace “exceeds 1,500 units per month,” 2025 could unseat 2023 as the all-time high point of settlement construction.
This is a direct result of the Defence Minister’s June 2023 Mandate, abolishing the requirement for his approval at every stage of settlement planning and development.
This change means that the HPC can now meet regularly, every week, and proceed with settlement plans, a few hundred units at a time, as opposed to the large bulks seen previously when settlement plans could only be promoted to the defence minister four times a year.
“This approach aims to normalize settlement planning and attract less public and international attention and criticism,” according to the monitoring group.
The West Bank is part of the occupied Palestinian territories meant to form a sovereign Palestinian state, according to the Oslo Accords. Settlements built in the occupied West Bank violate international law and have been condemned numerous times by the global community.
Israel intensifies attacks
Israeli forces and terrorist settlers have escalated their assaults across the West Bank over the past 48 hours, targeting multiple towns, villages, and refugee camps, WAFA news agency reported.
On Monday evening, Israeli forces raided the towns of Turmus Ayya, northeast of Ramallah, and Marda, north of Salfit. Military vehicles patrolled the streets of Turmus Ayya, while in Marda, troops fired stun grenades and flashbangs before sealing off the village’s main entrances.
In Qalqilya, Israeli occupation forces arrested six Palestinians after storming the city from its northern and southern entrances. Simultaneously, military raids in Nablus targeted the Yasmina neighborhood, Martyrs' Square, and Rafidia, resulting in one arrest.
The Balata refugee camp witnessed heavy bulldozer operations by Israeli forces, causing significant damage to infrastructure and homes.
In Hebron, Israeli forces arrested a resident from the southern part of the city and deployed snipers on rooftops in the town of Idhna, where road closures have persisted for over four months. Across Hebron, roadblocks and intensified military measures continue to restrict movement in towns and refugee camps.
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