Palestine, Jordan condemn minister’s call to impose Israeli sovereignty over West Bank

Palestine and Jordan condemned remarks by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Monday that he would urge his government to engage with the incoming Trump administration in the U.S. to gain its support for Israel's extension of its sovereignty to the occupied West Bank in 2025 through the annexation of Jewish settlements there.

The two countries warned that such plans could lead to a "total regional explosion" and exacerbate displacement and conflict.

Palestinian presidential spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh and the Palestinian Foreign Ministry issued the statement, which was echoed by Hamas and the Jordanian Foreign Ministry.

Smotrich earlier instructed Israel's Settlement Division and Civil Administration, both linked to the Defense Ministry, to initiate the groundwork for infrastructure to "apply sovereignty," Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported.

Abu Rudeineh said Smotrich's statements reveal Israel's intent to "complete its control over the West Bank by 2025," according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

He said the remarks openly defy a UN General Assembly resolution for implementing an International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling, WAFA reported.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry denounced in a statement the Israeli plans as "a distinct form of colonial racism" and an extension of "genocide and displacement against Palestinians."

The ministry criticized the policy as a "repeated disdain" of the international consensus on a two-state solution.

Hamas also condemned Smotrich's comments, warning they would only "heighten tension and escalation regionally and internationally."

"The statement by terrorist Finance Minister Smotrich confirms the occupation's colonial ambitions and its denial of our people's rights, debunking any notion of peace," it said.

The Palestinian group reaffirmed that "Palestinians and resistance factions will continue to oppose these occupation plans."

The Jordanian Foreign Ministry also condemned Smotrich's remarks as "extremist, racist incitement," denouncing Israel's sovereignty plans as an "egregious violation of international law and the Palestinian people's right to an independent state along the June 4, 1967 lines with Jerusalem as its capital."

Amman reaffirmed its "unequivocal rejection" of such incitement and declared that "Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territories."

Earlier in the day, Smotrich said that 2025 will mark the year of applying Israeli sovereignty over the occupied West Bank while speaking at a meeting of the Religious Zionism Party, which he leads.

He also congratulated Donald Trump on his U.S. presidential election victory, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.

The far-right minister further argued that Trump's win brings a valuable opportunity for Israel.

"During his first term, Trump led significant moves, including relocating the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, acknowledging Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and legitimizing settlements in Judea and Samaria (biblical names for the West Bank)," he noted.

"We were a step away from applying sovereignty to the settlements in Judea and Samaria," Smotrich said. "Now is the time to do it."

This is not the first time Smotrich has raised the issue. In June, he confirmed reports from The New York Times that he had a "secret plan" to annex the West Bank and thwart any efforts to incorporate it into a future Palestinian state.

On July 19, the ICJ reaffirmed Palestinians' right to self-determination, asserting that Israeli settlements on occupied land must be dismantled.

In an advisory opinion on the consequences of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, the court ruled that the territories constitute a "single territorial unit" to be protected and respected.

The ICJ also said that Israeli policies in these areas amount to de facto annexation and expressed doubt that extending Israeli law to include the West Bank and East Jerusalem could be justified.