Ben Gvir Vows to Dismantle Palestinian Authority, Push Palestinian Removal From West Bank

Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel's national security minister, told Channel 14 this week that he would work to dismantle the Palestinian Authority and push Palestinians out of the occupied West Bank and Gaza if he becomes defence minister.

"There is no difference between Areas A, B and C. The entire land is ours."

The line erases a distinction that has structured the occupied territory since the 1995 Oslo accords, under which Areas A and B carry varying degrees of Palestinian civil and security jurisdiction while Israel retains full control of Area C. The United Nations considers the whole of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, occupied Palestinian territory and holds that Israeli settlements built there since 1967 have no legal validity.

Ben Gvir told the network he would run a standing weekly process toward Palestinian departure. "I will dedicate time to this, and I will manage the process continuously. Every week, I will hold a discussion involving all relevant parties," he said. He also claimed that 60 percent of Palestinians want to "emigrate," a figure he did not source and that Middle East Eye notes is unverified by any cited polling.

He went on to call for loosening the rules governing Israeli soldiers' use of force in the occupied territories, framing it as a manpower solution. "It is very simple: The more you allow soldiers to shoot and use force, the less manpower you need," he said, adding that he would "remove the restrictions on our soldiers" because police rules of engagement are currently more permissive than the army's. He also criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not pursuing Palestinian displacement with enough resolve.

The remarks land three weeks before Israel's October 27 Knesset election, as Ben Gvir works to shore up support on the far right.

They follow a string of incursions into Muslim holy sites during Sukkot. On September 29, roughly 966 Israeli settlers entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard in East Jerusalem, according to Middle East Eye, with videos circulated by Israeli far-right groups showing prayer, singing and dancing inside the compound. Ben Gvir was among those who entered. The Al-Aqsa status quo designates the courtyard an Islamic site administered by the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, though Israel controls security and access. Netanyahu separately visited tunnels beneath Al-Aqsa that same period, telling those present, "We are here very close to the Holy of Holies. We are here, and we will always remain here."

On the same day, Ben Gvir visited the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron alongside hundreds of settlers while Israeli authorities closed the site to Muslim worshippers for the holiday, a closure the Palestinian Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs condemned as an assault on freedom of worship. "When I arrive at the Ibrahimi Mosque, I draw energy that makes me want to sing and rejoice," Ben Gvir told Channel 14. The mosque has been divided between Muslim and Jewish worshippers since 1994, when an Israeli settler killed 29 Palestinian worshippers inside it.