Israeli Likud Party Ministers Urge Netanyahu to Annex West Bank
They issued a petition ahead of Netanyahu's meeting next week with US President Donald Trump, where discussions are expected to center on a potential 60-day Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas.
The petition was signed by 15 cabinet ministers and Amir Ohana, speaker of the Knesset, Israel's parliament.
There was no immediate response from the prime minister's office. Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, long a confidant of Netanyahu, did not sign the petition. He has been in Washington since Monday for talks on Iran and Gaza.
"We ministers and members of Knesset call for applying Israeli sovereignty and law immediately on Judea and Samaria," they wrote, using the biblical names for the West Bank captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.
Their petition cited Israel's recent achievements against both Iran and Iran's allies and the opportunity afforded by the strategic partnership with the US and support of Trump.
It said the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel demonstrated that the concept of Jewish settlement blocs alongside the establishment of a Palestinian state poses an existential threat to Israel.
"The task must be completed, the existential threat removed from within, and another massacre in the heart of the country must be prevented," the petition stated.
Most countries regard Jewish settlements in the West Bank, many of which cut off Palestinian communities from one another, as a violation of international law.
With each advance of Israeli settlements and roads, the West Bank becomes more fractured, further undermining prospects for a contiguous land on which Palestinians could build a sovereign state long envisaged in Middle East peacemaking.
Israel's pro-settler politicians have been emboldened by the return to the White House of Trump, who has proposed Palestinians leave Gaza, a suggestion widely condemned across the Middle East and beyond.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Children of war: The lost generation in Palestine
For decades, the world has watched the Palestinian-Israeli conflict unfold via headlines, footage and diplomatic statements. But beneath the geopolitics and shifting battle lines lies a quieter, more devastating tragedy: a generation of Palestinian children growing up amid violence, trauma and deprivation. These are the children of war — a lost generation whose education, mental health and dreams for the future are being systematically shattered. In Gaza, where Israeli military operations have left entire neighborhoods in ruins, children have been disproportionately affected. According to UNICEF and Save the Children, more than half of Gaza's population is under the age of 18. That means every airstrike, every siege and every blockade hits them the hardest — physically, emotionally and mentally. Thousands of children have been killed, maimed or left orphaned by Israeli operations since Oct. 7, 2023. Many more have witnessed the death of siblings, parents or friends. These are not just statistics — they are young lives permanently scarred. Education, one of the most fundamental rights of every child, is among the first casualties in such a conflict. Schools in Gaza and the West Bank are often closed for long stretches due to bombardment or military operations. Some are turned into shelters. Others are directly targeted. Since October 2023, hundreds of schools have been damaged or destroyed, and thousands of children have been deprived of safe and consistent access to education. The result is a generation that is increasingly falling behind — not for lack of intelligence or will, but because their environment denies them the tools they need to grow. Even when the fighting stops — temporarily — the trauma continues. Mental health professionals working in Palestine report staggering levels of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and night terrors among children. These are not isolated cases. They are symptoms of a deeply broken context, where childhood has been replaced by fear and resilience is forced, not nurtured. Children draw pictures of tanks and funerals. They play games that mimic escape from drone attacks. Their worldview is shaped by checkpoints, rubble and the haunting sound of air raids. There are staggering levels of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and night terrors among children Hani Hazaimeh The long-term consequences of such sustained trauma are difficult to fully comprehend, but early signs are already emerging. Studies have shown that war-affected children are more likely to suffer from behavioral and developmental issues, poor academic performance and emotional withdrawal. The trauma does not just vanish when the guns fall silent — it lingers, passed on silently from one generation to the next. Yet perhaps the most damning aspect of this tragedy is how invisible these children have become to the international community. The war in Gaza and the broader Palestinian territories is often discussed in terms of ceasefires, security and statehood — rarely in terms of its human toll, particularly on the young. The language of diplomacy too often sanitizes the brutal reality on the ground. In global forums, the deaths of children are described as 'collateral damage,' and the destruction of schools is brushed aside as 'unfortunate consequences.' But behind these euphemisms are real human stories — of 10-year-olds who no longer speak, of toddlers who flinch at the sound of thunder, of teenagers who have never known a single day without the threat of war. Perhaps the most damning aspect is how invisible these children have become to the international community Hani Hazaimeh There is, of course, no simple solution to the broader conflict. But there is a moral imperative — urgent and universal — to protect children. That means demanding accountability for attacks on schools and civilian infrastructure. It means providing funding for trauma counseling and mental health services in war zones. It means supporting organizations that rebuild classrooms, train teachers and offer safe spaces for learning. It means treating the right to a childhood not as a luxury, but as a cornerstone of any sustainable peace. We must stop thinking of Palestinian children merely as victims of a political conflict. They are not footnotes to be skimmed over. They are the heart of the story — and if we allow their suffering to continue, we are complicit in the creation of a generation that has known only violence and despair. In every war, there are casualties we can count and others we cannot. The lost innocence of children falls in the latter. Let us not wait for another headline, another outrage, another round of violence. The children of Palestine need more than sympathy. They need solidarity. They need protection. And, above all, they need hope — something far too many of them have been forced to live without.
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Iran committed to Non-Proliferation Treaty, foreign minister says
Iran remains committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and its safeguards agreement, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday, a day after Tehran enacted a law suspending cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog. 'Our cooperation with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) will be channeled through Iran's Supreme National Security Council for obvious safety and security reasons,' Araqchi wrote in a post on X. President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday enacted the legislation passed by parliament last week to suspend cooperation with the IAEA, a move the US called 'unacceptable.' Araqchi's comment on X was in response to a call from Germany's Foreign Ministry urging Tehran to reverse its decision to shelve cooperation with the IAEA. Araqchi accused Germany of 'explicit support for Israel's unlawful attack on Iran, including safeguarded nuclear sites.' Iran has accused the IAEA of siding with Western countries and providing a justification for Israel'sJune 13-24 airstrikes on Iranian nuclear installations, which began a day after the UN agency's board of governors voted to declare Tehran in violation of its obligations under the NPT. Western powers have long suspected that Iran has sought to develop the means to build atomic bombs through its declared civilian atomic energy program. Iran has repeatedly said it is enriching uranium only for peaceful nuclear ends. IAEA inspectors are mandated to ensure compliance with the NPT by seeking to verify that nuclear programs in treaty countries are not diverted for military purposes. The law that went into effect on Wednesday mandates that any future inspection of Iranian nuclear sites by the IAEA needs approval by Tehran's Supreme National Security Council. 'We are aware of these reports. The IAEA is awaiting further official information from Iran,' the Vienna-based global nuclear watchdog said in a statement. US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told a regular briefing on Wednesday that Iran needed to cooperate fully with the IAEA without further delay.
Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Trump close to victory on flagship ‘Big Beautiful' tax bill
US lawmakers teed up a final vote on Donald Trump's marquee tax and spending bill for Thursday morning after bruising Republican infighting nearly derailed the centerpiece of the president's domestic agenda. Almost 24 hours after debate began, Trump appeared close to victory as Congress edged towards passing his 'One Big Beautiful Bill,' despite misgivings in his party over a text that would balloon the national debt while launching a historic assault on the social safety net. The bill would be a major landmark in Trump's political life, sealing his vision of US domestic policy into law -- and coming after he scored recent wins including in the Supreme Court and with US strikes that led to a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. Speaker Mike Johnson struggled through the night to corral his rank-and-file Republican members after the package scraped through a series of 'test' votes in the House of Representatives that laid bare deep divisions in the party. It was on course for a final vote that would put it on Trump's desk to be signed into law after passing its last procedural hurdle in the early hours of Thursday. 'We feel very good about where we are and we're moving forward,' an upbeat Johnson told reporters at the Capitol. 'So we're going to deliver the Big, Beautiful Bill -- the president's 'America First' agenda -- and we're going to do right by the American people.' Funds for mass deportation The timetable could slip however as Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries continued a long speech opposing the bill that delayed proceedings by several hours. Originally approved by the House in May, Trump's sprawling legislation squeezed through the Senate on Tuesday but had to return to the lower chamber for a rubber stamp of the senators' revisions. The package honors many of Trump's campaign promises, boosting military spending, funding a mass migrant deportation drive and committing $4.5 trillion to extend his first-term tax relief. But it is expected to pile an extra $3.4 trillion over a decade onto the country's fast-growing deficits, while shrinking the federal food stamps program and forcing through the largest cuts to the Medicaid health insurance scheme for low-income Americans since its 1960s launch. While Republican moderates in the House are anxious that the cuts will damage their prospects of reelection, fiscal hawks chafed over savings that they say fall far short of what was promised. Johnson has to negotiate tight margins, and can likely only lose three lawmakers in the final vote, among more than two dozen who had declared themselves open to rejecting Trump's bill. 'Abomination' The 869-page text only passed in the Senate after a flurry of tweaks that pulled the House-passed version further to the right. It offsets its tax relief with around $1 trillion in health care cuts, and some estimates put the total number of recipients set to lose their insurance coverage under the bill at 17 million. Scores of rural hospitals are expected to close. Johnson had been clear that he was banking on Trump leaning on waverers, as the president has in the past to turn around contentious House votes that were headed for failure. The Republican leader has spent weeks hitting the phones and hosting White House meetings to cajole lawmakers torn between angering welfare recipients at home and incurring his wrath. 'FOR REPUBLICANS, THIS SHOULD BE AN EASY YES VOTE. RIDICULOUS!!!' Trump, 79, thundered in one of multiple posts to his Truth Social platform as Wednesday's marathon voting session spilled into Thursday. The bill would underline Trump's total dominance of the Republican Party in his second term, and comes as he relishes a major Supreme Court victory last week that curbed lone judges from blocking his radical policies. But House Democrats have signaled that they plan to campaign on the bill to flip the chamber in the 2026 midterm elections, pointing to data showing that it represents a historic redistribution of wealth from the poorest Americans to the richest. Jeffries held the floor for his Democrats for more than four hours ahead of the final vote, as he told the stories of everyday Americans whom he argued would be harmed by Trump's legislation. 'This bill, this one big, ugly bill -- this reckless Republican budget, this disgusting abomination -- is not about improving the quality of life of the American people,' he said.
