Fresh tensions have erupted in the Middle East after Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced a controversial proposal aimed at expanding Israeli control over strategic areas in the occupied West Bank.
The plan was presented to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shortly after the European Union approved a new round of sanctions targeting Israeli settlers and organizations linked to settlement expansion activities in Palestinian territories.
In a public statement shared on social media platform X, Smotrich said the proposal includes taking control of key territories across Areas A, B, and C of the occupied West Bank. The minister strongly criticized the European sanctions, accusing European governments of hypocrisy while insisting Israel would not alter its security policies under international pressure.
Smotrich also called for expanding settlement activity and strengthening Israeli authority across the territory, describing the West Bank as a vital security zone for Israel. He warned that any international effort aimed at weakening Israeli control would face severe consequences.
The occupied West Bank was divided into Areas A, B, and C under the 1995 Oslo II agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. Area C, which makes up nearly 60 percent of the territory, remains under full Israeli control and has become the center of ongoing settlement expansion.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also rejected the European sanctions, arguing that settlement activity represents a historical and moral right for Jewish communities.
According to monitoring groups, settlement construction and expansion have accelerated significantly since Netanyahu’s current government took office in late 2022. Palestinian estimates suggest nearly 750,000 Israeli settlers now live across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. International law considers these settlements illegal, a position repeatedly affirmed by global organizations and many foreign governments.
Violence in the West Bank has sharply intensified since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict in October 2023. Palestinian officials report that more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed, thousands injured, and tens of thousands arrested during Israeli military operations and settler-related incidents across the territory.
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