JERUSALEM: 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.
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 Organization (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.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive in retaliation for the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel last Oct. 7 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. 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.
Palestinian official rejects Israeli minister’s move on West Bank settlements
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Palestinian official rejects Israeli minister’s move on West Bank settlements
- Israel’s finance minister intended to promote new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank
Israel’s security cabinet approves independence for 13 West Bank settlements
JERUSALEM: Israel’s security cabinet approved a plan to separate 13 Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank from their neighboring communities, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Sunday.
The settlements will ultimately be recognized as independent, he posted on X about the move, which follows the approval of tens of thousands of housing units across the West Bank.
“We continue to lead a revolution of normalization and regulation in the settlements. Instead of hiding and apologizing – we raise the flag, build and settle. This is another important step on the path to actual sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich said, using Israel’s term for the West Bank.
Israel’s opposition to ceding control of the West Bank has been deepened by its fears of a repeat of the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas-led militants. Its military says it is conducting counter-terrorism operations in the West Bank and targeting suspected militants.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry criticized the approval of the separation of the neighborhoods and their recognition as independent settlements as disregarding international legitimacy and resolutions.
Hamas, the Palestinian militant group governing Gaza, condemned the move in the West Bank, describing it as a “desperate attempt to impose realities on the ground and consolidate colonial occupation on Palestinian lands.”
Around 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, land Israel captured in 1967 during the six-day war. Most countries consider Israel’s settlements on territory seized in the war to be illegal. Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the land.
Israel’s pro-settler politicians have been emboldened by the return to the White House of US President Donald Trump.
Smotrich, head of the far-right Religious Zionism party and a key partner in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition, has for years called for Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank.
He noted that until now the 13 settlements were formally considered part of their parent communities, in some cases for decades, which he said caused significant difficulties in their daily management.
“Recognizing each of them as an independent settlement is an important step that will greatly assist in their advancement and development,” Smotrich said.
Lebanon state media reports Israeli strike on south
BEIRUT: An Israeli drone targeted a car in a southern Lebanese town on Sunday, state media reported, a day after the most intense escalation since a November ceasefire.
“An Israeli drone carried out an airstrike this morning, launching a guided missile targeting a car in the town of Aita Al-Shaab” near the border with Israel, Lebanon’s official National News Agency said, reporting an unspecified number of casualties.
Paramilitary shelling kills 3 in Omdurman after Sudan army gains: medic
KHARTOUM: Three civilians including two children were killed Sunday in an artillery attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on Omdurman, part of the Sudanese capital, a medical source told AFP.
Eyewitnesses in the area reported seven rounds of shelling rocking residential neighborhoods controlled by the army, which in recent days regained most of central Khartoum’s government district from the RSF.
“Two children and a woman were killed and eight others injured in the shelling,” said the medical source at Al-Nao hospital, one of the city’s last functioning health facilities, requesting anonymity for their safety.
Since April 2023, the RSF has battled Sudan’s regular army in a war that has killed tens of thousands, uprooted over 12 million and created the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises.
The army and allied groups on Friday recaptured the country’s presidential palace, launching a clearing operation to push the RSF out of central Khartoum’s administrative and financial district.
On Saturday, they claimed several strategic state institutions that had been overrun by paramilitaries, including the central bank, state intelligence headquarters and the national museum.
RSF fighters remain stationed in parts of central Khartoum including the airport, as well as the capital’s south and west.
From their positions in western Omdurman, they have regularly launched strikes on civilian areas.
In February, over 50 people were killed in a single RSF artillery attack on a busy Omdurman market.
Despite the army’s advances in the capital, Africa’s third largest country remains effectively split in two, with the army holding the east and north while the RSF controls nearly all of the western region of Darfur and parts of the south.
Turkish court jails Istanbul mayor Imamoglu pending trial
- Ruling likely to stoke tensions after four days of protests
- The court said Imamoglu and at least 20 others were jailed as part of a corruption investigation
ISTANBUL: A Turkish court jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on Sunday pending trial, state media and other broadcasters said, in a move likely to stoke the country’s biggest protests in more than decade.
The decision to send Imamoglu — who is President Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival — to prison comes after the main opposition party, European leaders and tens of thousands of protesters criticized the actions against him as politicized.
The court said Imamoglu and at least 20 others were jailed as part of a corruption investigation. A separate ruling on a terror-related investigation has yet to be issued.Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu said on Sunday that he will not bow down after court ruled to jail him pending trial over corruption related investigation.
"We will, hand in hand, uproot this blow, this black stain on our democracy... I am standing tall, I will not bow down," Imamoglu said in a post on X.
Israel military says it intercepted missile from Yemen
- The Houthis said early on Saturday they had “targeted Ben Gurion airport” with a ballistic missile
- United States began launching heavy strikes against Yemen’s Houthis last week
Jerusalem: Israel’s military said early on Sunday it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen after air raid sirens sounded in several areas across the country.
“Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted by the IAF (Israeli Air Force) prior to crossing into Israeli territory,” the military said in a statement.
The latest interception is part of an escalation between Israel and the Houthis after the Iran-backed group claimed a series of missile launches this week.
The Houthis had threatened to escalate attacks in support of Palestinians following Israel’s renewal of attacks against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which began on Tuesday.
The Israeli military also said late on Friday it had intercepted another missile launched from Yemen.
The Houthis said early on Saturday they had “targeted Ben Gurion airport” with a ballistic missile, calling it the third launch in two days.
Israeli airspace would remain unsafe “until the aggression against Gaza stops,” the group said in the statement.
The United States began launching heavy strikes against Yemen’s Houthis last week.
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the Houthis “will be completely annihilated” and warned Tehran against continuing aid for the group.
