Nablus – Together – The National Office for Land Defense and Settlement Resistance said in its periodic report that ‘Smotrich is dismantling the ‘civil administration’ and is using the army to deceive the world and cover up his settlement project.’
The office said in its report on Saturday, ‘Bezalel Smotrich, Minister of Finance and Minister of Settlements in the Army Ministry, is exploiting his position in the occupation government to move forward with the implementation of his plan to resolve the relationship with the Palestinians and the future of the West Bank.’
“Smotrich had announced his plan in September 2017. Smotrich’s plan says: Anyone who wants and can give up his national ambitions can stay here and live as an individual in the Jewish state. He will be given the right to vote for municipal councils but not for the Knesset. In the long run, these rights can be improved through a settlement with Jordan,” he continued.
‘As for those who do not want or cannot put their national ambitions aside, the
occupying state offers them assistance to immigrate to one of the Arab countries or to any other destination in the world. This is not immigration on board dilapidated boats, as he put it, but on board a plane towards a better future. The state can, and should, be generous towards Arabs who prefer to live in other countries, and offer them a grant that in turn constitutes a parting gift. As for those who refuse this and that, they will be dealt with firmly by the security forces and with greater force than we are doing today, and under more comfortable conditions. When there is decisive and unambiguous political guidance, the Israeli army knows how to defeat them in a short time. Kill those who must be killed, and collect weapons until the last bullet.’
He added, “In short, the Bezalel Smotrich project, in essence, puts the Palestinians in the West Bank before three options: accepting to live under my country’s rule under the sovereignty of the occupying state, or emigrating abroad with the encouragement and
facilitation of the occupying state. Whoever refuses this and that, the occupation army will settle the score with him.” This resolution plan, as Smotrich calls it, found its way into implementation with clear support from Benjamin Netanyahu after the recent Knesset elections and the resulting formation of a government that is the most aggressive and extremist in the history of Israel.
‘The decisive plan includes many details, and it revolves essentially around a policy of deepening and expanding settlements in the West Bank by fattening existing settlements, establishing new settlements, legalizing dozens of terrorist settlement outposts, and expanding what are called pastoral farms throughout the length and breadth of the West Bank. What is new in the decisive plan in the Smotrich project, which is fully supported by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is what was stated in the recordings of the conference, which he held on June 9, in which about a hundred of his party’s supporters participated in the pasto
ral settlement ‘Havat Shacharit,’ which is one of eight pastoral farms that settlers have established over the past years in the Salfit Governorate. The recordings were revealed by the New York Times on the 21st of the same month. At that conference, he announced a major plan with his political partner, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to change what he called the DNA of the State of Israel. The most dangerous thing about that is the explicit admission that the Israeli government is on its way to annexing the West Bank behind the world’s back, and that it is using the army to cover up its actions.’
The report added, “At that conference, Smotrich revealed the tricks used by the occupation government in the plan to annex the West Bank. He boastfully explained that he had established a separate civilian system in the Civil Administration, affiliated with the occupation army, to divert attention from the broad international opposition to settlement, not to mention the annexation plans, and that the government
It allowed the Ministry of Defense to remain involved in the process, so that it appears that the army is still present at the heart of governance in the West Bank and that it has sovereignty. Thus, Smotrich believes that swallowing the West Bank will be easier in the international and legal context, so that no one will say that the occupying state is annexing and exposing it Smotrich’s method: “We did not invent the wheel. This has been the situation in the State of Israel since forever.” ‘You take a farmer and a thousand heads of cows for a penny and a half, and he protects 40 thousand dunams for you.’ He estimates that ‘within a few months, there will be a model that allows the vast majority of farms to be arranged, which will open the door for investment to arrange infrastructure.’
He pointed out, “Here we should not fall into the illusion that Smotrich is working behind Netanyahu’s back, since the moment when Likud signed the coalition agreement with the Religious Zionist Party in general and the moment
when the Prime Minister understood, especially in the circumstances of the brutal war on the Gaza Strip, that the fate of his government and his political future depended on the survival of His far-right and fascist coalition ‘is now completely with us, as Netanyahu and the settlers have become one body,’ as Smotrich put it.
‘This enabled Smotrich to work from his position in the Defense Ministry to lift the fragile legal barriers to change the civilian reality in the West Bank. He added staff to his ministry and appointed a deputy head of the Civil Administration with full powers, in addition to a number of other matters, from planning to law enforcement. The only one who might interfere in the work of this deputy is the Chief of Staff, according to Smotrich, after he transferred authority from the army to the Civil Administration and appointed a civilian deputy head of the Civil Administration with the powers of the head of the administration. After dismantling the Civil Administration with its military ch
aracter and transferring its powers to the Settlement Administration in the Defense Ministry, and transferring settlement and land issues from the military legal advisor affiliated with the Military Prosecutor’s Office to the legal advisor affiliated with the Settlement Administration under the supervision of Smotrich himself, followed by departments each of which includes four lawyers in land issues, law enforcement, planning and construction. Thus, Smotrich transformed the Settlement Administration into an administration resembling a government ministry, whose head is a civilian, an employee of the Defense Ministry, but he does not report to the head of the Civil Administration or the commander of the Central Command.’
Not only that, but Smotrich is working to regularize the status of illegal outposts, even according to the occupation’s standards, by creating a ‘bypass route’ not only to legitimize them but also to finance and provide services to 63 outposts; and allocating 85 million shekels to build secu
rity elements in the outposts, in addition to what he called the legalization of agricultural outposts and declaring about 15,000 dunams as state land; in preparation for placing them at the disposal of these agricultural outposts and other settlement activities and allocating additional budgets for his project by adding a billion shekels to security needs in the settlements for the years 2024-2025; and 7 billion shekels for new settlement and bypass roads.
He continued, and Smotrich recently succeeded in his endeavor. In an atmosphere dominated by tension and political bargaining between Netanyahu and his ally in the government coalition, Smotrich, the Israeli Ministerial Council for Political and Security Affairs (the Cabinet) approved the legalization of 5 settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank, and advanced plans to build thousands of new settlement units in various parts of the West Bank. In response to the Palestinian side’s approach to the International Criminal Court and the International Cour
t of Justice at the United Nations, and the arrest warrants against senior Israeli officials and the pressure it is exercising for unilateral recognition of the Palestinian state, the five settlement outposts that were approved to legitimize the occupation occupy strategic locations in the West Bank, which are “Avitar” in the Nablus Governorate, “Sadi Ephraim” and “Givat Assaf” in the Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate, and “Haletz” in the Gush Etzion area between Hebron and Bethlehem, in addition to the “Adorim” settlement outpost in the Hebron Governorate. The Council also agreed to issue tenders for the construction of thousands of housing units in several settlements and to invite the Senior Planning Directorate in the Civil Administration to meet and approve the construction plans. Smotrich was calling for the legalization of dozens of settlement outposts, but in that tense atmosphere he resorted to temporarily limiting himself to five, explaining this in populist and childish political language as saying
that for every country that has recognized the State of Palestine since October 7th, they are Slovenia, Spain, Norway, Ireland and Armenia. Settler leaders were quick to welcome the decision of the mini-ministerial council. Yisrael Gantz, after thanking both Netanyahu and Smotrich, said that the decision is a step that will strengthen Israel’s presence, while the head of the settlement council in the northern West Bank, Yossi Dagan, confirmed that recognizing the settlement outposts is a decision. Zionist par excellence and a strong message of victory.
The report added that Smotrich had pledged at the end of last February to continue expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank, defying international pressure on Israel to stop construction on occupied Palestinian land. He announced approval for the construction of a new settlement called “Mishmar Yehuda” in “Gush Etzion”, a group of Jewish settlements located south of Jerusalem on the lands of the Bethlehem and Hebron governorates, and he stressed on more
than one occasion that Israel would continue to allow the construction of more settlements.
It is worth noting here that the settlers, with the encouragement of Smotrich and Ben-Gvir and the clear cover of Netanyahu and the Likud Party, established a record number of random settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank in 2023, and that many of them were established after the outbreak of the war on Gaza last October. That year witnessed the establishment of 26 settlement outposts, including about 10 outposts since the outbreak of the Gaza war on October 7, compared to five outposts in 2022. The government allocated about 75 million shekels to secure these settlement outposts.
The report said, on the other hand, that the policy of demolishing Palestinian homes and facilities in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, continues without stopping. Rather, it has begun to take an upward trend under an extremist right-wing government in which Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir assume responsibilities that allow the
m to control the so-called law enforcement and prosecution authorities. Palestinians and restrictions on them in all aspects of life. For decades, the occupying state has adopted a policy of demolishing Palestinian homes as a tool for displacement and silent ethnic cleansing, sometimes under the pretext of not obtaining permits and other times under the pretext of building in areas classified as (C). This demolition policy is old, but it has accelerated since the victory of the Israeli fascist right in the last elections and has increased hysterically since the seventh of October in an extension of the criminal war waged by the occupation forces on the Gaza Strip and in the cities, villages and camps of the West Bank as well, including occupied Jerusalem, as office data indicate. The United Nations Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the Israeli authorities have demolished 92 buildings in East Jerusalem since the beginning of the current year 2024, including 35 inhabited homes during the pas
t month under the pretext of building without a permit, and they are the ones who deliberately intend to restrict Jerusalemites and turn obtaining a building permit into suffering for years. . Dozens of demolitions spread across various governorates of the West Bank last week. According to data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the occupation authorities demolished 1,004 Palestinian homes and other buildings in the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem, in 2023 until December 11, resulting in the displacement of 1,870 people. Most of the buildings were demolished under the pretext of their lack of building permits, which the authorities make obtaining them almost impossible for Palestinians in these areas. As for the ‘Sherine Abu Aqleh Observatory,’ it indicated in its latest data that the occupation authorities demolished about 990 homes and facilities from the seventh of October until the first half of the year 2024, meaning that they demolished in half a y
ear a number of homes and facilities equal to those they demolished throughout the year 2023.
The weekly violations documented by the National Office for the Defense of the Land were as follows during the reporting period:
Jerusalem: The occupation municipality demolished a house belonging to the Abu Subeih family in the Wadi Qaddum neighborhood in the town of Silwan. The occupation demolished the house manually, due to the narrowness of the roads and the inability of the bulldozers to demolish it.
Ramallah: Settlers set up additional tents in the Jabal al-Alam area in the town of Nilin, west of Ramallah, in preparation for seizing it. Others again attacked a house in the town of Turmus Aya with stones, causing material damage to the windows, glass, and external cameras. They attacked the citizen, Muhammad Rabie Jabara, on the outskirts of the town with batons, before fleeing.
Hebron: The occupation authorities announced their intention to seize the old central vegetable market complex, ‘Al-Hisbah,’ and t
he ‘Garage’ parking lot in the Old City of Hebron, which includes ‘Al-Atq Market,’ located in the heart of the Old City, and their intention to add new floors to the existing buildings in market. In conjunction with this step, which violates the powers of the Hebron Municipality, the occupation authorities intend to build in the Osama School and its surroundings, opposite the ‘Ain Askar’ area known as the ‘Garage’ parking lot. These authorities continue to demolish citizens’ homes in the governorate. In the Farsh al-Hawa area, west of Hebron, the occupation forces demolished the home of citizen Tamer Abd. Al-Jawad Abu Aisha, which consists of 3 floors, a water well, and external walls, note that the building in question is licensed by the Hebron Municipality and its owners have all the identification documents for ownership of the land. Eight houses were notified of the demolition in Khallet al-Dabaa in Masafer Yatta and their owners were handed demolition notices, and the citizen Youssef Musa Muhammad was ex
posed Al-Ashqar was attacked by settlers in the ‘Fafoura’ area of ??Masafer Yatta, where they beat him and tried to kill him, but he managed to evade them and escape. They stole five sheep and fled, and in the Bani Na’im wilderness, settlers from a new settlement outpost established in the place attacked livestock herders and citizens. The families of Azazma, Hamdan and Manasra, threatened them with death and forced them to leave their lands. Settlers also severely beat the elderly Ahmed Barghash Al-Shawahin in Khallet Al-Adra in Wadi Al-Jawaiya in Masafer Yatta, causing him to suffer injuries and bruises, after which he was transferred by Red Crescent crews to Yatta Governmental Hospital. Bnei Hefer settlers also attacked the young man, Salem Dhifallah Azazneh, in the village of Al-Buwaib, east of Yatta. In the Umm Al-Khair community in Masafer Yatta, the occupation army demolished 11 houses, residences, and other facilities belonging to the Al-Hathalin family.
Bethlehem: The occupation forces demolished a
house under construction in the village of Marah Mualla, south of Bethlehem, belonging to the citizen Samir Muhammad Abu Shakra, and leveled a building under construction in the village of Jourat Al-Shamaa, south of Bethlehem, belonging to the citizen Zuhair Faisal Muhammad Hussein. Settlers also attacked farmers while they were on their land located in the middle of the Beitar Illit settlement, which is located on citizens’ lands in the village of Husan.
Ramallah: The occupation bulldozers demolished the house of citizen Muhammad Wajih Bazar in the village of Bitello, west of Ramallah, consisting of three floors, and the area of ??each floor is about 200 square meters.
Nablus: Settlers, protected by the Israeli occupation forces, attacked a number of citizens’ homes in the village of Yatma, south of Nablus, and smashed their windows. The owners were identified as Ayed Sanubar and Hatem Qassem Aqra’. They also smashed the windows of a number of vehicles in the village, and others from the ‘Yesh Kodesh’ outp
ost set fire to them. On the lands of the village of Qasra, while dozens of settlers stormed the archaeological site in the town of Sebastia, the occupation army, and settlers also opened fire towards citizens’ homes in the town of Madama, south of the city of Nablus.
Salfit: Settlers attacked citizens’ lands in the town of Qarawat Bani Hassan, west of Salfit, on the western side of the town, and uprooted olive seedlings and a fence surrounding land belonging to citizen Hisham Rayyan.
Jenin: Settlers from the pastoral outpost demolished parts of an agricultural room in the village of Dhahr al-Abd in the Ya`bad area, west of Jenin.
By citizen Nassim Jawad Amarneh. While the occupation bulldozers uprooted 60 olive trees from lands near Ya’bad inside the apartheid wall and bulldozed large areas of their lands without warning in the area called “C”, owned by the citizen Rawhi Kamel Zaid, and its area is 3 dunums and planted with olive trees and fruit trees.
The Jordan Valley: The occupation forces destroyed a
house in the village of Al-Duyuk Al-Tahta, northwest of the city of Jericho, belonging to the citizen Maan Tannous, despite having official license papers, and a Jordanian ‘Kushan’ taboo, and demolished houses belonging to the citizens, Faisal Abu Al-Saud and Alaa Abu Al-Saeed, in Al-Duyouk Al-Tahta, and in In the city of Jericho, the occupation demolished four houses east of the city, belonging to: Firas Abu Al-Zayt, Kamal Mahmoud Baraka, and Samer Hassasna. Two of them had an area of ??130 square meters in the ‘Airport’ area, building without a permit. They also stormed the Draa Awad area in the northern Jordan Valley and prevented the citizen Muhammad Suleiman Abu Al-Kabash from building a tent for livestock, and seized his agricultural tractor and a towed water tank to pressure him to remove the tent and remove it from the gathering permanently. In the Ras Ain al-Auja Bedouin community, settlers stormed the community, searched five barns, and chased its residents after they beat them and seized more than
10 heads belonging to the Rashaida family.
Source: Maan News Agency