Outrage among Palestinians at Smotrich's new settlement-related powers

Palestinians are alarmed and outraged that a far-right Israeli cabinet minister has been given official political control over Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. He has promised to utilise this power to bring these settlements' legal status in line with Israeli towns.

As part of his coalition agreement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was given a supervisory role in the Defense Ministry in areas relating to settlements.

After reaching an agreement on responsibilities with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Smotrich issued a 14-point statement, which stated that "legislation on all civilian (settlement) subjects will be brought into accordance with Israeli law."

According to the agreement, Smotrich has the authority to build settlements, declare outposts to be lawful, and destroy Palestinian homes.

"Every settlement is illegal, and any attempt by Israel to legalise or annex these settlements is opposed and is a breach of international laws," said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

"Appointing Smotrich to this post, with these powers, implies Israel annexing the West Bank and letting the settlers do anything they want against Palestinians," Mustafa Barghouti, secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, told Arab News.

Smotrich, along with another right-wing extremist politician, Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, according to him, are now in charge of all political mechanisms that have an impact on the lives and property of Palestinians, including civil administration, internal security, settlement financing, control of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, border guards, and Israeli prisons.

This entails going to war with the Palestinians, he continued.

"We have always said that Israel was annexing the West Bank, and now the official announcement of this annexation has come," Al-Haq director Shawan Jabarin told Arab News.

In the West Bank, there are currently around 650 000 Jewish settlers, and by 2030, there will be 1 million. East of Qalqilya, near the Kedumim village, Smotrich personally owns a home. The majority of the Israeli settlements are located in Area C, which makes up around 60% of the West Bank.

Due to the fact that settlers frequently take their land, cattle pastures, and water resources by force, Palestinians view the settlements as an existential danger. The 56-year-old Palestinian ideal of an autonomous, geographically contiguous state is also undermined by the expansion of settlements throughout the West Bank.

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