Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz says Israel will not allow the Palestinian Authority (PA) to control the occupied West Bank.
He made the remarks during a tour of the territory with far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said Israel was “here to stay”.
“Just as we are crushing Palestinian terror in the terror camps of Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur al-Shams, we will prevent any attempt by the PA to take control of Judea and Samaria and harm Jewish settlements,” Katz said in a video statement alongside Smotrich, using a biblical term to refer to the West Bank.
On January 21, just two days after a now-broken ceasefire took effect in Gaza, the Israeli military intensified its assault across the occupied West Bank, particularly in the northern regions. Israeli bulldozers have razed entire residential areas, forcibly expelling tens of thousands of people from their homes.
For the first time since the second Intifada, Israeli forces have reintroduced tank incursions and air attacks into the West Bank, part of a systematic Israeli strategy to change the geography of the West Bank, paving the way for full annexation.
He made the remarks during a tour of the territory with far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said Israel was “here to stay”.
“Just as we are crushing Palestinian terror in the terror camps of Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur al-Shams, we will prevent any attempt by the PA to take control of Judea and Samaria and harm Jewish settlements,” Katz said in a video statement alongside Smotrich, using a biblical term to refer to the West Bank.
On January 21, just two days after a now-broken ceasefire took effect in Gaza, the Israeli military intensified its assault across the occupied West Bank, particularly in the northern regions. Israeli bulldozers have razed entire residential areas, forcibly expelling tens of thousands of people from their homes.
For the first time since the second Intifada, Israeli forces have reintroduced tank incursions and air attacks into the West Bank, part of a systematic Israeli strategy to change the geography of the West Bank, paving the way for full annexation.
