Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer have threatened to annex illegal Jewish-only settlements in the occupied West Bank along with the Jordan Valley. These statements come amid growing international support for recognizing a Palestinian state.
According to Haaretz, “Dermer, who was also appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayhu in February to head the Gaza cease-fire negotiation team, spoke with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot and warned that Israel might take unilateral steps in response to a potential international recognition of a Palestinian state.”
An unnamed foreign diplomatic source familiar with the conversation said Dermer’s threat to the French and the British includes “legalizing unauthorized settler outposts under Israeli law and annexing parts of Area C in the West Bank.”
Area C, which includes 61% of the occupied West Bank, is already illegally controlled by Tel Aviv and contains most of the settlements – apart from those in East Jerusalem – in the territory earmarked for a future Palestinian state.
As the Palestine Chronicle has detailed, “As of the end of 2024, Palestinian reports estimate that around 770,000 Israeli settlers live in the occupied West Bank, spread across 180 officially sanctioned settlements and 256 unauthorized outposts—138 of which are categorized as pastoral or agricultural. The United Nations has consistently classified all Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory as illegal under international law. The expansion of these settlements, the UN warns, erodes any prospect of a two-state solution and has continued despite repeated international calls for a halt.”
Israeli media is saying Sa’ar made similar threats to officials in other countries including during a joint press conference with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul as well as in communications with his French and British counterparts.
Paris and Riyadh are planning an international conference next month on the two-state solution which may see France and other countries officially recognize a Palestinian state. Reportedly, Washington will not be joining the conference, however there are indications that the US will not pressure other participating nations.
Following a preparatory meeting in anticipation of next month’s conference, a French diplomat outlined the participating countries’ three main priorities. The first priority is to both facilitate the recognition of a Palestinian state while also pursuing broader regional normalization with Israel beyond the Abraham Accords’ signatories.
Secondly, the conference will ostensibly attempt to ensure “robust” security assurances on both sides, but more specifically the group is aiming for “the complete demilitarization of Hamas and the integration of Israel in a regional security architecture.”
The third priority is leading “tangible reforms of the Palestinian Authority to strengthen its legitimacy and give it the means to carry out its legitimate governance duties over the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, under a political framework that would exclude any role for Hamas.”
Tensions have been flaring between Israel and Europe in recent weeks with London, Paris, and Ottawa warning they could sanction Israel if Tel Aviv continues pursuing its plans of ethnic cleansing in Gaza as well as settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.
Additionally, last Wednesday, the Israeli military fired warning shots in the West Bank city of Jenin at a delegation including European diplomats. “Faced with the intolerable shooting by the Israeli army during the visit of Spanish, EU and other countries’ diplomats, we are summoning the head of Israel’s embassy in Madrid,” Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares posted on Twitter. Other governments represented in the delegation also summoned Israeli ambassadors in their countries including France and Italy.
Spain, Norway, and Ireland formally recognized the state of Palestine last year and, in response, Israel vowed to expand its West Bank settlements. As CNN reported, “Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said in May that Israel should approve 10,000 settlements in the West Bank, establish a new settlement for every country that recognizes a state of Palestine, and cancel travel permits for Palestinian Authority officials.”
Under Netanyahu’s rule, illegal settlement expansion has soared, through the demolitions of homes and other residential structures, as well as brutal IDF and settler violence. More than 900 Palestinians including 181 children have been killed in the West Bank since October 2023.
Last July, the International Court of Justice issued a landmark ruling that the Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza since 1967 is illegal and Palestinians have a right to self-determination. The court called for all settlers to evacuate the Palestinian territories.
In spite of this, the Israeli army has just declared their plans to occupy 75% of Gaza over the next two months and force the remaining Palestinians effectively into concentration camps where top Israeli officials say they will experience still more starvation and deprivation until they leave their homeland entirely so Gaza can be opened up for Israeli Jewish settlement.
Since October 2023, Israel has bombed, blockaded, and invaded the Gaza Strip. At least 173,000 Palestinian men, women, and children have been killed or wounded. Top international humanitarian organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have deemed Tel Aviv’s war on the civilians of Gaza a “genocide.”
According to a United Nations, “approximately 92 per cent of all residential buildings in Gaza – around 436,000 homes – have been damaged or destroyed since the start of the conflict. The resulting debris amounts to nearly 50 million [tons] – an overwhelming quantity of rubble that would take decades to remove under current conditions.”
Smotrich, who in addition to being Israel’s finance minister also acts as the de facto occupation governor of the West Bank, warned last year “we will turn you into ruins like in the Gaza Strip.“
