Under last year, we broke the record for demolitions of illegal Arab buildings in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), says the ultra-nationalist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich during a tour of the area together with Defense Minister Israel Katz.
Smotrich simultaneously hints that Israel will accelerate the construction of Israeli settlements on the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since the Six-Day War in 1967.
To win this battle, we must add new strategic tools, he says, and adds that "Israel is here to stay".
Defense Minister Katz claims that Israel will not allow the Palestinian Authority (PA), which leads a limited Palestinian self-government on the West Bank, to "control" the West Bank.
Just as we crush Palestinian terror in the terror camps in Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur al-Shams, we will prevent all attempts by the PA to take control of Judea and Samaria and harm Jewish settlements, he says.
Over half a million Israelis live in settlements and illegal outposts on the West Bank, which Palestinians see as part of a future Palestinian state. All settlements violate the Geneva Convention.
For the most hardline nationalist elements in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, including Smotrich and Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a total Israeli annexation of the West Bank is the ultimate goal.
Named after its location west of the Jordan River. Has an area of 5,860 square kilometers – equivalent to approximately three Lake Vättern. The West Bank is thus 16 times larger than the Gaza Strip.
Approximately 3 million Palestinians live on the West Bank, but also several hundred thousand Israeli settlers.
The 1990s Oslo Accords divide the West Bank into three areas: A, B, and C. In A and B, which together account for approximately 40 percent of the area, the Palestinians have some self-determination. In C, Israel has control. According to the Oslo Accords, the Palestinians were to gradually gain more power and control, even in area C. But that has not happened, instead Israel has rather expanded its domains, built new settlements, roads, and barriers.
Israel's grip on the West Bank began with the occupation of the area during the Six-Day War in 1967. Since then, it has been under military occupation pending a final peace agreement. But there are also strong right-wing forces in Israel who believe that the country has a right to large parts of or the entire West Bank.
The Palestinian self-government on the West Bank is led by the secular party Fatah.
