Israel has imposed a week-long comprehensive military closure across the occupied West Bank, and a senior cabinet minister has publicly called for a full-scale offensive there, Al Jazeera reported on Sunday.
The closure, announced by Israeli authorities and linked to the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, will restrict Palestinian movement until October 3, the report said. The announcement followed comments by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who told Ynet News that the Israeli military should “go to war in Judea and Samaria, to do there what we did in Gaza, to dismantle the Palestinian Authority, which is a terror authority”, according to Al Jazeera.
Al Jazeera described Smotrich as a far-right minister. The broadcaster said he made the remarks while answering a question on how Israel should respond to rising “security tensions” in the occupied West Bank.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, recorded more than 1,330 settler-related attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank from January to late July, Al Jazeera reported. OCHA said that figure averaged about six attacks a day and represented the highest rate in roughly 20 years.
Al Jazeera also cited rights groups and experts who say settler violence has grown more violent and organised. The outlet reported that settler groups, sometimes supported or protected by Israeli soldiers, have used shootings, home sieges and other communal violence described by some analysts as “pogroms”. Rights groups, the report added, warn that settlers are increasingly armed with military-issued weaponry and sometimes wear military uniforms during attacks, blurring the line between settler and soldier.
In response to Smotrich’s remarks, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates issued a statement saying the comments came within the context of Israeli government policies that involve killing and displacement of Palestinians, expansion of illegal settlements, land confiscation and attempts to impose annexation by force, Al Jazeera reported. The ministry warned that continued international silence on inflammatory Israeli statements and policies encourages the Israeli government and risks further regional tension and instability.
The report added that in occupied East Jerusalem, hundreds of Israelis entered the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound under heavy protection from Israeli police on Sunday. The Palestinian news agency Wafa told Al Jazeera the visitors entered through the Moroccan Gate and performed Talmudic rituals, while Israeli forces increased restrictions around the mosque and across the Old City.
Al Jazeera linked the rise in violence in the West Bank to the wider context of Israel’s offensive in Gaza that began in October 2023 and said attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have surged this year.
What we know and how it was reported
The details above are drawn from the Al Jazeera report, which cited a Ynet interview for Smotrich’s remarks, OCHA for the settler attack figures and Wafa for events at the Al-Aqsa compound. Israeli authorities were reported as the source for the military closure announcement.
Featured image: Avi Ohayon via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
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