Ramallah, Sept 28 (Prensa Latina) Rawhi Fattouh, President of the Palestinian National Council, called for urgent international intervention to prevent the occupied West Bank from becoming a scene similar to the Gaza Strip.

Fattouh was responding to statements by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who advocated for a war in the West Bank similar to the one being waged in Gaza and for the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority.

In an interview published by the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot, Smotrich stated that a war should be waged in “Judea and Samaria”—the biblical term used in Israel to refer to the West Bank—and that measures similar to those employed in Gaza should be applied there. He also labeled the Palestinian Authority a “terrorist authority.”

In light of these statements, Fattouh maintained that states maintaining occupation policies and issuing rhetoric that—as he claimed—incites the commission of crimes must face international political and economic measures, in accordance with international law.

The Palestinian leader urged the international community to fulfill its responsibilities and adopt urgent measures to prevent a new escalation in the West Bank, as well as to hold accountable those who promote actions against the Palestinian population.

Fattouh described Smotrich’s statements as incitement to violence, destruction, and forced displacement, asserting that they contradict the norms of international humanitarian law, the Geneva Conventions, and the United Nations Charter.

For its part, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs deemed the Israeli minister’s statements a call to intensify actions against Palestinians and linked them to what it interprets as plans for annexation, displacement, and the undermining of prospects for establishing an independent Palestinian state.

In June, 14 United Nations special rapporteurs warned of a rise in violence perpetrated by Israeli settlers in the occupied Palestinian territory, noting—according to the experts’ statement—that these actions are supported or facilitated by Israeli state institutions and threaten Palestinian communities.

Since the start of the current war in Gaza on October 7, 2023, Israeli forces have intensified military operations in the West Bank, while settler attacks, arrests, displacements, and settlement expansion have also been recorded.

The war in Gaza has resulted in tens of thousands of Palestinian deaths and injuries, as well as widespread destruction of homes and civilian infrastructure, according to Palestinian authorities and international bodies.

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