Settler leaders call for moving Palestinian population in West Bank ‘to combat terror’
Letter from senior settler leaders to security cabinet calls for destruction of ‘every incriminated building’ in West Bank ‘terror centers,’ and restriction on freedom of movement
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
Senior settlement leaders called on the security cabinet on Sunday to evacuate residents of Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank and what they describe as other centers of Palestinian terrorism, in order to tackle Palestinian armed groups “exactly as we have done in the Gaza Strip,” including through widespread demolition of structures in such places.
In a letter to the security cabinet, Yisrael Ganz, head of the Yesha Council umbrella settlement organization, and 14 mayors of settlement authorities and regional councils also call for restricting Palestinian freedom of movement on main roads in the West Bank for security purposes.
Their call to evacuate Palestinian population centers in the West Bank comes after Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the IDF to bolster preparations for the protection of West Bank settlements and traffic arteries against possible attack from “extremist Islamic terror agents” who may be inspired by the success of rebels in Syria in toppling the Assad regime.
In August, when Katz was serving as foreign minister, he called for “temporarily relocating Palestinians” in the West Bank as part of a major anti-terror raid in the northern part of the territory.
Israel has been accused of the forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza due to the massive destruction of civilian infrastructure and refusal thus far to allow the overwhelming majority of evacuated Gazans to return to their homes.
Far-right Israeli politicians, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who are strongly aligned with the West Bank settlement movements, have also called for implementing policies designed to “encourage” Palestinian emigration from Gaza.
In their letter on Sunday, the settlement leaders alleged that as a result of Iranian efforts, lethal terror attacks in the West Bank have spiked, and recommended that tough action be taken to counter the phenomenon.
“The population living in zones identified with terrorism, with a focus on ‘refugee’ camps and known terror complexes, should be moved,” the setter leaders wrote. “After moving the population, the terrorism infrastructure should be dismantled exactly as we have done in the Gaza Strip, meaning: any incriminated building to be destroyed, every terrorist to be taken out.”
They added: “The form of battle, from the incursion to the ground operation, will exert effective pressure and extract a significant price from the terrorist organizations.”
The brief letter did not detail where Palestinians from evacuated population centers might be moved during the proposed military incursions or what would happen after combat operations are concluded.
Ganz, who also heads the Benjamin Regional Council settlement authority, and the other leaders alleged that the deteriorating security situation in the West Bank was a result of the Oslo Accords signed between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in 1993.
“This is the time to abandon a defensive posture and go forward to a posture of efficient and effective lethal offensive in Judea and Samaria,” they concluded, referring to the West Bank by its biblical name, saying the “spirit of victory” in the campaigns in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria should be brought to the West Bank.
