West Bank & Jerusalem
Smotrich urges Netanyahu to bar Abbas from returning to West Bank
Image credit: Maan Wire (EN)
TOP News Brief
The Newsdesk gathers reporting from wire services and primary sources and rewrites every story in-house before publication. How our journalism is made →
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to prevent Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from returning to the West Bank following his visit to Turkey, the Ma'an news agency reported. Smotrich's demand came as Abbas traveled abroad, and the minister seized on the opportunity to press for extraordinary measures against the Palestinian leader.
In the same statement, Smotrich went further, calling for the complete dismantling of the Palestinian Authority. The demand reflects the hardline positions held by members of Netanyahu's far-right coalition partners, who have consistently pushed for more aggressive policies toward Palestinian self-governance structures and institutions.
