Smotrich pushes for displacement of West Bank, Gaza Palestinians

A senior Israeli far-right minister vowed to encourage "emigration" from the occupied Palestinian territories, despite mounting criticism of recent measures tightening Israel's control over the occupied West Bank.

Since last week, Israel has approved a series of initiatives backed by far-right ministers to consolidate control over the West Bank, including in areas administered by the Palestinian Authority under the Oslo Accords, in place since the 1990s.

"We will eliminate the idea of an Arab terror state," far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said at an event organised by his Religious Zionism Party late on Tuesday.

"We will finally, formally, and in practical terms nullify the cursed Oslo Accords and embark on a path toward sovereignty, while encouraging emigration from both Gaza and Judea and Samaria," he said, using the Biblical term for the West Bank.

"There is no other long-term solution," added Smotrich, who himself lives in an illegal settlement in the West Bank.

Smotrich was speaking at a vineyard near Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, where he presented what he called "Colonisation 2030", a campaign initiative ahead of national elections scheduled for later this year.

Smotrich has consistently called for the annexation of the West Bank, drawing up maps of plans to do so in September 2025, while calling for the colonisation of Gaza and voting against a ceasefire in the enclave.

In addition to the finance portfolio, Smotrich serves on Israel's security cabinet, which makes key decisions regarding the West Bank, making him a central figure in efforts to expand settlements there.

The recently approved measures include launching a process to register land in the West Bank as "state property" and allowing Jewish Israelis to purchase land directly.

Until now, land acquisitions for settlers were typically carried out through intermediary companies.

The new measures repeal a decades-old law that barred Jews from directly purchasing land in the West Bank.

"This will allow Jews to purchase land in Judea and Samaria exactly as they do in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem," Smotrich said last week.

Global outrage

The steps are also set to increase Israel's control in parts of the West Bank where the Palestinian Authority currently exercises power.

Under the Oslo Accords, the West Bank was divided into areas A, B and C - under Palestinian, mixed and Israeli governance, respectively.

The West Bank would form the largest part of any future Palestinian state, but many on Israel's religious right view it as Israeli land.

The Oslo Accords were signed with the stated aim of paving the way for an independent Palestinian state.

Israeli NGOs have also raised the alarm over a settlement plan signed by the government, which they say would mark the first expansion of Jerusalem's borders into the occupied West Bank since 1967.

The planned development, announced by Israel's Ministry of Construction and Housing, is formally a westward expansion of the Geva Binyamin, or Adam, settlement situated northeast of Jerusalem in the West Bank.

The new measures have triggered widespread international outrage.

On Tuesday, the UN missions of 85 countries condemned the measures, which critics say amount to the de facto annexation of the Palestinian territory.

"We strongly condemn unilateral Israeli decisions and measures aimed at expanding Israel's unlawful presence in the West Bank," they said in a statement.

"Such decisions are contrary to Israel's obligations under international law and must be immediately reversed.

"We underline in this regard our strong opposition to any form of annexation."

Rawhi Fattouh, a top Palestinian official, said such widespread condemnation showed a "shift in the international community's approach to its legal and moral responsibilities" regarding Palestinian rights.

"It also represents further evidence of the growing isolation of the occupying entity, which insists on defying international will," the speaker of the Palestinian National Council said in a statement.

He accused Israel of continuing to "pursue policies of annexation, Judaisation, ethnic cleansing, illegal colonisation and the imposition of a systematic system of racial discrimination that amounts to the crime of apartheid".

US President Donald Trump has previously voiced opposition to annexation of the West Bank, but has stopped short of directly criticising the latest Israeli measures.

"As the president has clearly stated, he does not support Israel annexing the West Bank," a Trump administration official said earlier this month.

"A stable West Bank keeps Israel secure and is in line with this administration's goal to achieve peace," the official said.

Excluding Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, which would be the capital of a future Palestinian state, more than 500,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements and outposts, which are illegal under international law.

Around three million Palestinians live in the territory, which Israel has occupied since 1967.

The current Israeli government, considered one of the most right-wing in the country's history, has fast-tracked settlement expansion.

It has approved a record 54 settlements in 2025, according to Israeli NGO Peace Now.