Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich proclaimed Tuesday that he would work in his next term to “encourage migration” of Palestinians from the West Bank, as international condemnation of Israel’s recent measures in the area grows alongside unchecked settler violence.

Speaking at an event held by his far-right Religious Zionism party with local settlement leaders, Smotrich laid out what he said should be the goals of the next government, including doing away with the 1990s-era Oslo Accords and applying Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank, a move akin to annexation.

“Destroy the idea of an Arab terror state; finally, formally and practically cancel the cursed Oslo Accords and get on the path of sovereignty, while encouraging migration both from Gaza and from Judea and Samaria,” said Smotrich, using the biblical term for the West Bank. “There is no other long-term solution.”

The idea, which critics say amounts to ethnic cleansing, has been pushed repeatedly by far-right leaders, including Smotrich, in the aftermath of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack, but until now has largely focused on Gaza.

Smotrich’s declaration represents a relatively rare instance of a senior Israeli politician explicitly expressing a desire to expand the controversial goal to the West Bank.

His comments come just days after the cabinet authorized a controversial measure that would enable the registration of broad swaths of land in the West Bank as state land available for Israeli development. A week before that, the security cabinet announced a series of decisions to “dramatically” change land registration and property acquisition procedures in the West Bank, both of which have been denounced by opponents as de facto annexation.

On Tuesday, 85 countries joined a chorus of condemnations of the Israeli moves, including close allies such as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Cyprus, Greece and Germany.

“We strongly condemn unilateral Israeli decisions and measures aimed at expanding Israel’s unlawful presence in the West Bank,” said the statement organized by the Palestinian Mission to the UN. “Such decisions are contrary to Israel’s obligations under international law and must be immediately reversed. We underline in this regard our strong opposition to any form of annexation.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called on Israel to reverse the land registration policy, calling it “destabilizing” and “unlawful.”

A statement on behalf of 85 States and a number of international organizations condemning Israel’s unilateral measures and policies in the occupied West Bank and rejecting annexation???????? pic.twitter.com/BhEo22f6bZ — State of Palestine (@Palestine_UN) February 17, 2026

A statement on behalf of 85 States and a number of international organizations condemning Israel’s unilateral measures and policies in the occupied West Bank and rejecting annexation???????? pic.twitter.com/BhEo22f6bZ

— State of Palestine (@Palestine_UN) February 17, 2026

Meanwhile on Tuesday, Israeli settlers reportedly attacked a Bedouin hamlet outside Ramallah as IDF soldiers stood by.

According to reports in Palestinian media and the Haaretz newspaper, the incident began when a settler from a nearby outpost began grazing his sheep in between the homes of residents of the Bedouin hamlet adjacent to the village of Rammun. The settler then tried to bring his sheep into the Bedouin hamlet’s sheep pen, but was blocked by locals who feared he was trying to steal their livestock.

Several more settlers then reportedly arrived at the scene and a clash broke out. IDF forces arrived at the scene and stood by for an extended period before employing riot dispersal measures. However, those measures were targeted at the Palestinians and not the settlers, Haaretz reported, citing witness testimony.

מתנחל רועה צאן בין בתי בדואים בפאתי הכפר רמון צילום: @justherds pic.twitter.com/FYFbn7VY9U — הארץ חדשות (@haaretznewsvid) February 17, 2026

מתנחל רועה צאן בין בתי בדואים בפאתי הכפר רמון

צילום: @justherds pic.twitter.com/FYFbn7VY9U

— הארץ חדשות (@haaretznewsvid) February 17, 2026

Three Palestinians were lightly wounded in the clash, the Palestinian Authority’s official Wafa news site reported, adding that the Bedouin residents also accused the settlers of stealing some of their belongings.

No arrests were made. The IDF did not respond to requests for comment on the incident.

Such incidents of settler harassment have been taking place on a near-daily basis across the West Bank. The targets are frequently Bedouin hamlets in Area C of the territory, which is under full Israeli control. Hundreds of Bedouin Palestinians, including some from the hamlet outside Rammun, have decided to flee to other parts of the West Bank.

Earlier Tuesday, settlers from the Giborei David outpost reportedly raided another Bedouin hamlet outside the village of Duma in the central West Bank.

היום בדומא:מתנחלים מהמאחז הבלתי חוקי ״גיבורי דוד״ תקפו פעילי שלום ופלסטינים מהקהילה הבדואית.המתנחלים ריססו את אחד הפעילים בגז פלפל, שברו חלק מהקיר ומהגג של הבית, ותקפו פיזית את הפעילים. Advertisement if(typeof rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner != "function" || !rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner("#336x280_Middle_3")){ window.tude = window.tude || { cmd: [] }; tude.cmd.push(function() { if(navigator.userAgent.indexOf("rgbmedia-app") > -1){ tude.setDeviceType("mobile"); } tude.refreshAdsViaDivMappings([ { divId: '336x280_Middle_3', baseDivId: '336x280_Middle_3', } ]); }); } התקשרנו למשטרה ולצבא, שבמשך שעות לא הגיעו למקום. pic.twitter.com/I8VGN4KNhG — עמית אורפלי Amit Orfali ???????? (@AmitOrfali) February 17, 2026

היום בדומא:מתנחלים מהמאחז הבלתי חוקי ״גיבורי דוד״ תקפו פעילי שלום ופלסטינים מהקהילה הבדואית.המתנחלים ריססו את אחד הפעילים בגז פלפל, שברו חלק מהקיר ומהגג של הבית, ותקפו פיזית את הפעילים.

התקשרנו למשטרה ולצבא, שבמשך שעות לא הגיעו למקום. pic.twitter.com/I8VGN4KNhG

— עמית אורפלי Amit Orfali ???????? (@AmitOrfali) February 17, 2026

Footage from Israeli activists trying to protect the hamlet showed the settlers breaking down the wall of one of the makeshift homes. The activists said that the settlers pepper-sprayed and assaulted both them and the local Palestinians.

Asked for comment on the incident, the IDF said it received a report of a clash between a Palestinian and an Israeli during which the Israeli used pepper spray. Troops arrived at the scene and separated the sides, the army said. There were no arrests made.

Violence in the West Bank has soared since Hamas triggered the Gaza war with its devastating October 2023 attack on southern Israel. The last several years have seen near-daily incidents of violence against Palestinian civilians — including setting alight cars and houses, as well as physical assaults — by extremist settlers, almost none of whom have faced legal consequences thus far.

Throughout 2025, the number of attacks by extremist Jewish settlers against Palestinians and Israeli security forces in the West Bank rose by 27 percent , the military revealed last month.

The number of severe incidents of “nationalistic crime” by settler extremists, classified by Israeli security bodies as terrorism, also rose by over 50%, according to the data.

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