The Israeli newspaper Haaretz said that West Bank settlers are jealous of what is happening in Gaza, and are calling on the government and the army to turn the West Bank into rubble, and to do there what they did in the Gaza Strip.
The newspaper said in its editorial – today, Wednesday – that Israel wants to turn the West Bank into rubble, just like Gaza.
She pointed out that, in parallel with the work of the Netanyahu government to strengthen the permanent military presence and perhaps the civilian presence in Gaza, the settlement establishment and its arms in the army and government are working to strengthen the settlement presence in the West Bank.
The newspaper reported that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich indicated that he had drawn up a plan that would make the Palestinian towns of Bunduq (a Palestinian town), Nablus and Jenin look like Jabalia in northern Gaza, so that Kfar Saba (an Israeli town near the northern West Bank) would not turn into Kfar Azza (from The settlements adjacent to the Gaza Strip were attacked on October 7, according to the newspaper.
Smotrich said in a post on the
The statements of Smotrich and some settler leaders in the West Bank came during their meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz following the shooting that took place last Monday near the Kedumim settlement, east of Qalqilya in the northern West Bank, which resulted in the killing of 3 Israelis and the injury of 7 others.
Haaretz newspaper added that the head of the Ariel settlement council in the northern West Bank, Yair Shtibun, called for a massive military operation in the West Bank, like the one that took place in 2002, to destroy the refugee camps there.
The newspaper commented on these statements by saying: “It turns out that some people believe that we are living in an era of miracles, not only with regard to Gaza, but also in the West Bank, and while most Israelis view October 7 as the greatest disaster in the country’s history, some on the right see it as an opportunity.” “And even the beginning of salvation.”
The newspaper added that settlers in “Judea and Samaria” believe that eradicating “terrorism” means expelling residents and demolishing homes and infrastructure, to put an end to any future possibility of a two-state solution.
The Wall and Settlement Authority statistics estimate the number of settlers in the West Bank and the city of Jerusalem at approximately 780 thousand settlers, distributed in 180 settlements and approximately 240 settlement outposts, and they control 5% of the West Bank area, while the occupation as a whole controls 42% of the West Bank lands under the names of military zones and lands. State, bypass streets, etc.
