Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called on September 27, 2026, for a military campaign in the occupied West Bank modeled on the Gaza Strip. Speaking on a political podcast, Smotrich urged the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority while Israeli authorities enacted a weeklong comprehensive military closure across the territory for Sukkot.
The statements from far-right Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich arrived ahead of an upcoming election scheduled for October 27, 2026. Appearing on Ynet’s Hebrew-language political podcast 120 and One
, Smotrich argued that Israel must adopt aggressive tactics in the West Bank to eliminate security threats permanently.
Smotrich Urges Gaza-Style Military Operations and Dismantling of the Palestinian Authority
Detailing his position on how to handle escalating tensions, Smotrich dismissed warnings from military and security commanders who have described the West Bank as standing on the verge of an explosion. He recounted his exchanges inside the security cabinet when commanders raised alarms about the territory’s stability.
“When they came to the cabinet and said this, I said, ‘So what do you want? Tell us what to do. You are the army,’ … I don’t understand these meaningless warnings. It’s a bit like covering yourselves.”
Bezalel Smotrich, Israeli Finance Minister
Smotrich maintained that the military should go to war in Judea and Samaria—using the biblical names for the occupied West Bank—and dismantle the Palestinian Authority, which he characterized as a terror authority. When asked what such a war would entail on the ground, he pointed to prior operations in West Bank refugee camps.
We already did it. There are three refugee camps there that are empty, that we evacuated the population from for its protection and cleansed of all the terror.
Bezalel Smotrich, Israeli Finance Minister
He further added that if vehicles are turned into weapons for ramming attacks, driving restrictions should be enforced on local roads.
Comprehensive Closures and Regional Annexation Proposals
The finance minister’s remarks coincided with a weeklong comprehensive military closure implemented across the occupied West Bank by Israeli authorities, citing the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. Official Palestinian sources reported that the closures and checkpoints around cities like Ramallah are set to remain in effect until October 3.
Beyond the West Bank, Smotrich expanded his territorial proposals to include external borders. He stated an ambition to annex areas up to the Yellow Line in Gaza and up to the Litani River in Lebanon.
Diplomatic Condemnation and Background Casualties
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates issued a formal warning regarding Smotrich’s statements. The ministry denounced the calls for a full-scale war as an attempt to undermine prospects for an independent Palestinian state and impose annexation by force in violation of international law. Palestinian authorities held the Israeli government fully responsible for the potential consequences, while calling on the United Nations Security Council and the United States administration to intervene.
Human rights and international monitoring groups have documented rising casualties and settler violence across the West Bank. Official figures compiled since October 2023 indicate that at least 1,206 Palestinians, including 254 children, have been killed in the territory. Meanwhile, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recorded over 1,330 settler-related attacks between January and late July, averaging six incidents per day.