Palestinian official rejects Israel Minister's move on West Bank settlements

A senior Palestinian official rejected, on Friday, a move by Israel’s Finance Minister intended to promote new Jewish settlements in the Occupied West Bank, saying it was aimed at pursuing a “war of genocide” against Palestinians, Reuters reports.

Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said on Thursday the Israeli government would also take punitive steps against the Palestinian Authority in response to Palestinian moves against Israel internationally.

Asked about Smotrich’s statement, which was not confirmed by the government, Wasel Abu Youssef, a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), said the settlements were “illegal colonies that violate all international resolutions”.

“The decisions by the Occupation government aim to pursue the war of genocide against our Palestinian people,” he told Reuters.

He said the PLO and the Palestinian Authority would continue to press for Israel to be taken before international courts and punished for “crimes against our people, and in particular in the Gaza Strip”.

Israel has rejected accusations brought by South Africa at the UN’s top Court that its military operation in Gaza is a state-led genocide campaign against Palestinians.

READ: Report: US officials call for imposing sanctions on Israel minister

Israel launched its Gaza offensive in retaliation for the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel last 7 October, in which about 1,200 people were killed and over 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. The Gaza Health Ministry says over 37,000 people have been killed in Israel’s offensive.

However, since then, it has been revealed by Haaretz that helicopters and tanks of the Israeli army had, in fact, killed many of the 1,139 soldiers and civilians claimed by Israel to have been killed by the Palestinian Resistance.

Smotrich, who heads a pro-settler party, said the government supported his proposal. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, which usually announces cabinet-level decisions, issued no statement and could not be reached for immediate comment.

Steps which Smotrich said he was advancing included revoking “various approvals and benefits” for senior officials in the Palestinian Authority, approving new settlements and retroactively sanctioning some Jewish settlements.

The Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule under 1990s interim peace deals in the West Bank, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

Palestinians and most of the international community regard Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as illegal. Israel disputes this, citing the Jewish people’s historical, biblical and political links to the area as well as security considerations.

READ: Israel to promote settlement in the West Bank, Smotrich says