Former Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said Israel is conducting "silent gradual annexation" of various parts of the West Bank in the face of international opposition, according to remarks broadcast on Sputnik radio on Saturday. The West Bank has been under Israeli military rule since 1967, Shtayyeh said, but current Israeli actions amount to a systematic takeover of Palestinian territory.
Shtayyeh attributed the policy to what he described as Israel's current leadership by religious Zionism, under which "killing and confiscation of Palestinian lands is carried out in the name of God." He cited statistics indicating more than 881,000 settlers in the West Bank, representing 26 percent of its population and controlling over 70 percent of its land area.
Shtayyeh said an Israeli plan for Palestinian displacement was ready for implementation in November 2023, and that Egypt and Jordan rejected Israeli plans to relocate Palestinians to Sinai and Jordan respectively. He characterized displacement as having security, economic and demographic dimensions, saying the Palestinian population had held a demographic advantage over Israelis before October 7 but describing this as part of what he called efforts at "Judaization of Palestine."
The Oslo Accords, which established a framework for Palestinian self-governance in the 1990s, have no remaining substance, Shtayyeh said, and Israel has entirely undermined the political process with Palestinian leadership. He said Israel does not respect any terms of agreements with Palestinians, particularly provisions concerning security, finance, economics and geography.
Shtayyeh said Israel's borders have expanded by more than 541 square kilometers since October 7, 2023, including territory in southern Lebanon, Syria and Gaza.
