Gaza and genocide...the West Bank and sovereignty

After US President Donald Trump won the US elections, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich quickly instructed the Settlements Directorate in the Ministry of Defense and the “Civil Administration” to prepare the necessary infrastructure to implement Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank, while the war of extermination continues in the Strip.

The extremist minister said, "It is time to apply our sovereignty over the West Bank," claiming that 2025 will be the year of sovereignty.

Smotrich, who himself lives in an illegal settlement according to international law, seeks to strengthen Israeli control over the West Bank, in order to abort any attempt to become part of the Palestinian state, which Israel openly opposes, and voted on a resolution rejecting the Palestinian state within the Knesset in a move that confirms its extremist tendencies and its abort of any attempt at calm and stability in the region, in order to undermine all diplomatic and peaceful efforts and international legitimacy resolutions seeking a two-state solution.

While Israel is eagerly awaiting Trump’s inauguration and his official assumption of power, it is looking forward to receiving the green light from the US president to implement the plan to impose sovereignty over the West Bank, because this is in line with Trump’s orientations and aspirations, who seeks to grant the Palestinians narrow self-rule, and therefore Trump may not oppose Israeli steps against the West Bank.

It is not limited to Smotrich and the far-right movement, but also includes the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, which is engaged in a secret plan to change the way the West Bank is governed, in order to strengthen Israel’s control over it, without being officially accused of a new annexation process.

The secret plan, which was revealed last June, is based on steps to wrest control from the army to the “Civil Administration,” which operates under Smotrich’s command, and it will be easy to swallow the West Bank under it.

The Israeli army has transferred significant powers to civil servants in Israel, in a move to expand the process of annexation and sovereignty over the West Bank, awaiting the official step from the Israeli government to begin implementing the plan.

These steps, coupled with the policy of settlement expansion at the expense of demolishing Palestinian homes and confiscating lands, are raising great controversy. In light of the talk of tensions with the Biden administration and the imposition of American and Western sanctions on a number of settlers, it seems that Smotrich and the ministers of the occupation government will exploit the vacuum in the process of transferring powers and authorities from Biden to Trump in every way and means to accelerate the pace of this step, as evidenced by the extremist Minister of Finance directing the staff of his ministry and a number of employees of the "Civil Administration" to prepare the necessary plans, which means that Israel, which continues the war of extermination in Gaza and seeks to impose sovereignty in the West Bank and separate it from the Strip, is systematically announcing the abortion of the dream of a Palestinian state.

It is true that Smotrich or even Ben-Gvir do not decide alone, but it is clear that they have a great influence on the path of extremism in a government whose only concern is to eliminate everything Palestinian, and therefore everything can be expected from a war of extermination in Gaza, sovereignty over the West Bank, and other violations and attacks.