Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called on Sunday for ‘Israel’ to launch a war in the occupied West Bank modeled on its genocidal assault on the Gaza Strip.
“We should do there what we did in Gaza,” Smotrich told the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
The far-right Israeli minister also repeated his call for the Palestinian Authority to be dismantled as Israeli forces intensified military restrictions, raids and attacks throughout the occupied territory.
Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says the Israeli army should "go to war” in the occupied West Bank and repeat what it “did in Gaza”. pic.twitter.com/ohhqoXUfvK
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) September 27, 2026
Smotrich’s remarks explicitly invoked Israeli genocide in Gaza, which has killed nearly 74,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 175,000 since October 2023.
The Israeli offensive has also damaged or destroyed approximately 90 percent of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, leaving much of the enclave uninhabitable and forcing most of its population into repeated displacement.
Despite a ceasefire that took effect on October 10, 2025, Israeli forces have continued carrying out airstrikes, shootings and other attacks across Gaza.
More than 1,400 Palestinians have been martyred and approximately 5,000 wounded in Israeli ceasefire violations, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Smotrich’s call to replicate that campaign in the occupied West Bank came amid a continuing escalation by the Israeli army and illegal settlers against Palestinian communities.
Checkpoint closures, military roadblocks and newly erected barriers have isolated Palestinian towns and villages, preventing residents from reaching workplaces, schools, hospitals and their homes.
The attacks included killings, mass arrests, home demolitions, attacks on mosques, the bulldozing of agricultural land and the displacement of Palestinian communities.
Israeli occupation forces and illegal settlers have also prevented farmers from reaching their land while accelerating the expansion of settlements and outposts built in violation of international law.
Source: Agencies (edited by Al-Manar)