Israel.. Smotrich Calls for War in the West Bank and Annexation of Parts of Lebanon and Gaza

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who belongs to the far-right, called on Sunday for the annexation of areas in southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip currently under the control of the Israeli army, and for "going to war" in the West Bank.

Smotrich said in a podcast for the Israeli news site "Ynet": "I would like us to annex at least the areas extending to the yellow line in Gaza (which separates areas under Hamas control from those under Israeli control), and to reach the Litani River in Lebanon... because if the war ends at the same lines it started from, what will deter the enemy from waging war again?".

The Israeli minister added: "I believe we need to go to war" in the West Bank "and dismantle the Palestinian Authority."

Smotrich has long called for the annexation of the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967.

Violence in the West Bank has escalated since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, with an increase in settler attacks that have led to the deaths of several Palestinians and the theft of their property.

Except for East Jerusalem, about three million Palestinians live in the West Bank, and nearly 500,000 Israeli settlers live in settlements that are considered illegal under international law.