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LAST UPDATE | 30 May 2025
ISRAELI DEFENCE MINISTER Israel Katz has vowed to build a “Jewish Israeli state” in the occupied West Bank.
It comes a day after Benjamin Netanyahu’s government announced the creation of 22 new settlements in the Palestinian territory.
Israeli settlements in the West Bank are regularly condemned by the United Nations as illegal under international law, and are seen as one of the main obstacles to a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Katz framed the latest move as a direct rebuke to French President Emmanuel Macron and others pushing for recognition of a Palestinian state.
“This is a decisive response to the terrorist organisations that are trying to harm and weaken our hold on this land,” he said in a video published by his office.
“It is also a clear message to Macron and his associates: they will recognise a Palestinian state on paper – but we will build the Jewish Israeli state here on the ground,” he added.
“The paper will be thrown into the trash bin of history, and the State of Israel will flourish and prosper.”
In April, Macron said that France could recognise a Palestinian state in June.
During a visit to Singapore today, the French president asserted that recognition of a Palestinian state, with some conditions, was “not only a moral duty, but a political necessity”.
He also said that European countries should “harden the collective position” against Israel if it does not respond appropriately to the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Israel slammed Macron’s comments, accusing him of undertaking a “crusade against the Jewish state” and wanting to “reward terrorists” with a Palestinian state.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. Despite being illegal under international law, more than 200 settlements have been constructed there, covering more than 10% of its territory. More than 100 of these have legal status under Israeli law.
The official boundaries of settlements are off limits to Palestinians because they are declared by Israel as ‘closed military areas’, even though they are home to more than 600,000 people.
Katz was speaking during a visit to the Sa-Nur settlement outpost in the northern West Bank. Sa-Nur was evacuated in 2005 as part of Israel’s disengagement from Gaza, promoted by then-prime minister Ariel Sharon.
Today, the Palestinian Red Crescent said it was dealing with three shrapnel injuries from bullets in the nearby Palestinian village of Sanur, including two girls aged between 10 and 12 with head wounds.
“They are being taken to the hospital,” it said in a statement.
Reached for comment, the Israeli army said that during a patrol, “several suspicious vehicles accelerated toward the forces”, who “fired warning shots into the air”.
The vehicles withdrew and “no hits were identified”, it added.
An international conference meant to resurrect the idea of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is set to take place in June at the UN headquarters in New York.
A diplomat in Paris close to preparations for the conference said it should pave the way for more countries to recognise a Palestinian state.
Following Israel’s announcement of the new settlements on Thursday, Britain called the move a “deliberate obstacle” to Palestinian statehood, while UN chief Antonio Guterres’s spokesman said it pushed efforts towards a two-state solution “in the wrong direction”.
Today, a Saudi diplomatic source told AFP that Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan would lead a delegation to the West Bank city of Ramallah.
He will become the first Saudi foreign minister to visit the West Bank since it was first occupied by Israel in 1967.
Saudi Arabia was said to be close to recognising Israel before the start of the Gaza war, but last year its de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman stated it would not do so without an independent Palestinian state.
Need more information on what is happening in Israel and Gaza? Check out our new FactCheck Knowledge Bank for essential reads and guides to navigating the news online.
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