Israel seeks permanent control of Gaza, while ensuring Jewish majority in West Bank, Israel: UN inquiry commission

Israel is seeking permanent control of the Gaza Strip while ensuring a Jewish majority in the occupied West Bank and inside Israel, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel said in a new report Tuesday, Anadolu reports. The commission found Israeli policies since October 2023 show “clear and consistent” intent to “forcibly transfer Palestinians, expand Israeli Jewish civilian presence and annex the entirety of the West Bank,” blocking Palestinian self-determination. It warned that these measures are part of a broader strategy to prevent any future Palestinian state. “I am particularly appalled by the Israeli Finance Minister (Bezalel) Smotrich’s recently announced plan of annexing 82 percent of the occupied West Bank, and by the […]