Smotrich Calls for Gaza, Lebanon Annexation

Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called for the annexation of parts of southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip currently under Israeli military control, while urging Israeli forces to launch a wider military operation in the occupied West Bank.

Speaking on a podcast with Israeli news outlet Ynet on Sunday, Smotrich said Israel should expand its control beyond current positions in Gaza and Lebanon, arguing that a return to previous frontlines would not prevent future conflict.

“I would like us to annex at least as far as the Yellow Line in Gaza, which demarcates the areas under Hamas and Israeli control, and as far as the Litani River in Lebanon,” Smotrich said.

He added that ending a war along the same lines where it began would fail to deter future attacks.

Smotrich also called for military action in the West Bank, saying Israel should “go to war in Judea and Samaria” — the biblical term used by some Israelis for the territory — and dismantle the Palestinian Authority, which he accused of supporting “terror”.

The minister leads the Religious Zionism party, a far-right political group that supports the annexation of the entire West Bank, a territory Israel captured during the 1967 Middle East war.

The West Bank has experienced increased violence since the start of the Gaza war, which followed Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. The escalation has involved Israeli military raids, attacks by Palestinian armed groups, and violence involving Israeli settlers and Palestinians.

More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in communities across the West Bank alongside about three million Palestinians. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, a position rejected by Israel.

Smotrich’s comments come as questions continue over the future administration of Gaza, the status of the West Bank, and the broader prospects for a political resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.