In practice, Smotrich is relying on occupation and settler violence to uproot Palestinians so that he can expand and legitimize new illegal Israeli settlements.
In just the first month of 2025, Israeli forces killed 70 Palestinians in the West Bank.
In the last two months, they have killed 34 more people, according to Shireen Monitor — a local observatory named after the Palestinian Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed.
Many of the casualties resulted from Israel’s ongoing raids. These attacks have targeted refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarem, Nur Shams, Far’a, and Nablus, causing mass displacement.
Israel has employed similar tactics to those used in Gaza — including full sieges of the camps and the forced displacement of most of the residents — according to Forensic Architecture, a research group investigating human rights violations.
Israel has also attacked medical facilities and bombed the Tulkarem and Jenin camps, indiscriminately killing civilians.
Between October 7, 2023, and December 16, 2024, there were approximately 1,800 settler attacks across the occupied West Bank, according to data collected by Tech for Palestine, a collective of tech volunteers who monitor human rights abuses and advocate for Palestinian liberation.
Israel claims that these raids are aimed at rooting out Palestinian armed groups, which began emerging in 2021 as a response to growing violence and deepening occupation.
However, on the ground, Israel has reportedly committed numerous human rights violations — including the killing of unarmed civilians, preventing families from burying their slain relatives, and razing entire neighborhoods to induce mass displacement.
In recent days, Israeli troops and settlers have ramped up their attacks against Palestinians.
The United Nations has warned that the Israeli military is attempting to evict 12 communities in Masafer Yatta, in the southern Hebron hills.
The UN has repeatedly stated that Israel has committed numerous violations of human rights and international law.
Yet the Zionist state continues to evade consequences, largely due to unwavering support from the United States.
The question remains: how much longer will the suffering of the Palestinian people continue under the grip of Israeli colonial occupation? ***