Israeli minister calls for West Bank war, annexation of Lebanon, Gaza areas

Israel's far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich called Sunday for the annexation of parts of south Lebanon and the Gaza Strip and for Israeli forces to go to war against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. He made the remarks in a podcast for Israeli news site Ynet. The comments come as Israel heads toward elections on October 27.

What did Smotrich say about annexing Lebanon and Gaza?

Smotrich said Israel should annex territory at least as far as the yellow line in Gaza and the Litani River in Lebanon. He argued that if a war ends along the same lines where it began, nothing would deter the enemy from fighting again. The yellow line marks the area of Gaza already under Israeli military control after the war triggered by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack.

What did Smotrich say about the West Bank?

Smotrich said Israel needs to go to war in Judea and Samaria, using the biblical term for the West Bank, to dismantle the Palestinian Authority, which he accused of supporting terror. Smotrich leads a far-right party that advocates annexing the entire West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967. Various Israeli leaders, in both the ruling coalition and the opposition, have opposed the establishment of a Palestinian state.

How did the Palestinian Authority respond?

The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority condemned Smotrich's call for war in the West Bank on Sunday. It said his statements were an explicit call for escalation, annexation and displacement, aimed at undermining the prospects of an independent Palestinian state.

How much violence has the West Bank seen since the Gaza war began?

The West Bank has seen a surge in violence since the outbreak of war in Gaza. At least 1,110 Palestinians, including a number of militants, have been killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian official figures. Israeli figures show at least 49 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations during the same period. Settler attacks against Palestinians have soared in recent months, often without legal consequence, and Netanyahu has dismissed the violence as the work of a handful of rioters. More than 500,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements, which are illegal under international law, among about three million Palestinians.