Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called for Israel to “go to war” in the occupied West Bank, dismantle the Palestinian Authority and carry out military operations there similar to those in Gaza.Speaking on Ynet's podcast on Sunday, Mr Smotrich, who heads the Religious Zionism party, said Israel should dismantle what he called the Palestinian Authority's “terror infrastructure” and prevent armed groups from operating in the territory.He said the Israeli needed to go to war in the West Bank, “to do there what we did in Gaza, to dismantle the Palestinian Authority, which is a terror authority”.He called for such action until there was “no terror infrastructure” in the West Bank: “No terrorists, no weapons, no tunnels.”The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned Mr Smotrich's remarks as “dangerous calls for war” and an explicit call for escalation, annexation and displacement.The ministry said Mr Smotrich was aiming to undermine prospects for an independent Palestinian state.It described his remarks as a reflection of policies pursued by the Israeli government through what the ministry called killing, displacement, settlement expansion, land seizure and attempts to impose a new reality by force in the occupied Palestinian territory.'International silence'“The Palestinian Authority and the institutions of the State of Palestine are integral to the Palestinian n...
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