West Bank · updated 16m ago · 3 min read
Bezalel Smotrich Calls for War in the West Bank, Citing Gaza-Style Crackdown
Smotrich urged the army to go to war in the West Bank, replicating Gaza operations. He also called for dismantling the Palestinian Authority.
Whether the call signals intent to commit war crimes.
9 of 11 outlets skipped it: OCHA recorded 1,330 settler-related attacks Jan to late July.
Middle East Eye was read line by line by the Watchdog: 2.8. See the score →
24outlets compared
Same story, two versions
tap a side to read it in full
Al Jazeera
“‘Smotrich is not only proposing a ‘war’ on Palestinians in the West Bank, he is already waging one,’ Bishara told Al Jazeera.”Read the original ↗
The Times of Israel
“‘I certainly have solutions’ to the situation in the West Bank, he says.”Read the original ↗
Al Jazeera stresses legal jeopardy and criminal intent; The Times of Israel largely reports Smotrich’s quoted demands without the same legal framing.
Smotrich urges war
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told Ynet News that Israel needs to “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”. Smotrich said Israeli forces should be instructed that there can be “no terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank, including “no terrorists, no weapons and no tunnels.” The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recorded more than 1,330 settler-related attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank from January to late July, averaging six a day, the highest rate in about 20 years.
Israeli authorities announced a comprehensive military closure across the occupied West Bank, citing the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, with heightened restrictions set to remain in place until October 3. In occupied East Jerusalem, hundreds of Israelis stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque under heavy protection from Israeli police, and Wafa reported the Israelis entered through the Moroccan Gate and performed Talmudic rituals.
Closures and storming
Israeli occupation police kept tight guard as more than a thousand settlers stormed the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem on Sunday, according to Al-Jazeera Net. The Jerusalem Governorate said that 1,143 settlers entered the mosque through the Al-Maghariba Gate during the morning incursions, and Al-Jazeera Net reported the settlers were led by Israeli Knesset member Omer Haviv (Amitt). The coordinator of government activities announced a full closure of the West Bank and border crossings from today Sunday until next Saturday (October 3, 2026), based on security assessments and political guidance.
Israeli authorities also imposed movement restrictions around the West Bank, and Al-Jazeera Net reported that occupation forces closed the Atara and Ein Siniya checkpoints and the entrances to the towns of Al-Abbad and Nabi Saleh north of Ramallah. WAFA reported that occupation forces stopped civilian vehicles and subjected them to inspection and scrutiny, causing hundreds of vehicles to be held for hours and resulting in traffic jams and congestion on roads leading to Ramallah and surrounding villages and towns.
War rhetoric and fallout
Smotrich expanded his calls beyond the West Bank, telling Ynet News that Israel should “go to war in Judea and Samaria” and “do there what we did in Gaza,” while also calling for Israel to annex territory in the Gaza Strip up to the Yellow Line and a large chunk of southern Lebanon. Smotrich said he would like Israel to annex at least as far as the Yellow Line in Gaza and as far as the Litani River in Lebanon, and he asked, “If a war ends along the same lines where it began, what will deter the enemy from going to war again?” The Palestinian Authority denounced Smotrich’s remarks as an “explicit call for escalation, annexation and displacement” intended to undermine the prospects for an independent Palestinian state, according to La Presse.
OCHA documented that since the start of 2026 there have been more than 1,600 settler attacks resulting in Palestinian injuries or property damage affecting 275 Palestinian communities by mid-September, at an average of about 6.7 attacks per day, compared to five attacks per day in 2025, according to Filastīn On Line. Filastīn On Line also said the UN documented the displacement of more than 4,300 Palestinians in the West Bank due to house demolitions, forcible evictions, settler assaults, and related restrictions, with settler attacks and restrictions on access to land and property accounting for more than 60% of displacement cases.