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Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has ignited fresh concern among human rights advocates and political analysts after publicly urging the military to launch a full-scale war in the occupied West Bank, invoking the devastating tactics Israel has employed in Gaza. The far-right minister's remarks, made during an interview with Ynet News published on Sunday, come roughly one month before Israel's general election, a period that has already seen a sharp rise in violence against Palestinians in the occupied territories.
In the interview, Smotrich said Israel should "go to war in Judea and Samaria," using the biblical term for the West Bank, and should replicate what the military "did in Gaza." He framed the proposal as a response to what he described as escalating "security tensions" in the territory, telling the outlet that Israel must act decisively to confront the situation.
The minister, who leads the far-right Religious Zionism party, also called for dismantling the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the West Bank under the Oslo Accords. Describing the PA as a "terror authority," Smotrich argued that Israeli forces should be instructed to eliminate what he called terrorist infrastructure in the territory, insisting there should be "no terrorists, no weapons, no tunnels" there, just as he claimed has been achieved in Gaza.
Smotrich further claimed that Israeli forces have already "cleared out" Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank, a statement that drew sharp condemnation from legal experts. Suhad Bishara, legal director of Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, said the camps Smotrich boasts of having emptied have in fact been destroyed and their residents forcibly displaced.
Bishara warned that Smotrich is not merely proposing a war on Palestinians in the West Bank but is already waging one. She characterized his call to replicate the Gaza campaign, where Israel has carried out what she described as a genocidal campaign of mass killing, starvation and destruction, as a public declaration of intent to commit war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Beyond the West Bank, Smotrich used the interview to push for the annexation of territory Israel controls in Gaza, defined by the so-called "Yellow Line" where the Israeli military withdrew under the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire. According to Israeli military maps, that line runs between 1.5 and 6.5 kilometers inside Gaza from its eastern border with Israel and encompasses roughly 58 percent of the enclave.
The minister also set his sights on Lebanon, stating he would "very much like to annex at least up to the Yellow Line in Gaza and up to the Litani River in Lebanon." He argued that annexing parts of Gaza and southern Lebanon would force Israel's adversaries to "pay a price" for the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023. Israel continues to occupy southern Lebanon, and Israeli shelling and demolitions have persisted there despite a US-brokered ceasefire reached in June.
Bishara said Smotrich's proposal to annex the West Bank, parts of Gaza and southern Lebanon amounts to a declared plan to seize occupied land by force and make its theft permanent, which she said is absolutely prohibited under international law. The legal director's assessment underscores the gravity with which rights advocates view the minister's statements, which they say cannot be brushed aside as mere campaign bluster.
Smotrich's comments arrive during a politically charged period in Israel. The general election is set to take place in about a month, and the campaign has been marked by a surge in Israeli and settler violence across the occupied territories, alongside increasing demonization of Palestinian citizens of Israel. Analysts and human rights experts caution that the minister's words should not be dismissed as election rhetoric alone, given his record and the government's actions on the ground.
Smotrich has been sanctioned by several Western countries, as has his cabinet colleague Itamar Ben-Gvir, reflecting international concern over their roles in settlement expansion and policies affecting Palestinians. The two far-right figures have been central to the current government's hardline approach, and their parties are expected to play a significant role in the upcoming vote.
The human toll in Gaza remains staggering. Since the ceasefire took effect, Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,408 Palestinians, according to the enclave's health ministry. At least 74,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since October 2023, with much of the besieged territory reduced to rubble. Legal scholars and campaigners have labeled Israel's military actions in Gaza a genocide, and a UN commission of inquiry panel last September concluded that Israel committed genocide there.
Against that backdrop, Smotrich's proposal to extend similar tactics to the West Bank has alarmed observers who fear a further escalation of violence. The West Bank has already seen thousands of arrests, many without formal charges, and settler pogroms that have gone largely unchecked since Israel launched its war in Gaza. Rights groups argue that the minister's rhetoric, far from being empty campaign talk, signals a concrete intention to expand the destruction.
The Palestinian Authority, which Smotrich wants to dismantle, governs the West Bank under the Oslo Accords and has been a key interlocutor in past peace efforts. Its dissolution or removal by force would have profound implications for governance in the territory and for any future diplomatic resolution. Smotrich's framing of the PA as a "terror authority" reflects a broader rejection of Palestinian self-rule within his party's ideology.
With Israel's election looming, the international community will be watching closely to see whether Smotrich's words translate into policy. Human rights experts say the distinction between rhetoric and action is already blurred, pointing to the destruction of refugee camps and the displacement of their residents. Whether the minister's call for a Gaza-style war in the West Bank becomes official Israeli policy may depend on the outcome of the vote and the composition of the next government.
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