By Nadine Osman
London, (The Muslim News): Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has vowed to push for the collapse of the Palestinian Authority (PA) by economically “strangulating” it, in a bid to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state. Meanwhile, the UK is to announce its recognition of Palestinian state on Sunday or early Monday morning.
“I will act using all the tools at my disposal to prevent the danger of a Palestinian state, including the collapse of the Palestinian Authority, through economic strangulation,” Smotrich wrote on the social media platform X yesterday. He added, “The entire essence of the Palestinian Authority is the pursuit of the destruction of Israel. Therefore, its existence is a security and existential danger to the State of Israel, and it must be eliminated and not strengthened.”
The minister has frozen the transfer of approximately $180 (£141) million in monthly tax revenues that Israel collects on the PA’s behalf, a move that threatens to cripple the already struggling Palestinian government, which has been unable to pay full salaries to its employees for months. Israel has previously withheld portions of these clearance revenues since 2019 under various pretexts, exacerbating the PA’s financial shortfall.
In the same post, Smotrich reiterated his call to annex 82% of the occupied West Bank, stating, “The application of Israeli sovereignty is the only way to ensure that a Palestinian state will not be established.”
His remarks come amid broader measures widely seen as paving the way for annexation, including demolition of homes, displacement of Palestinians, land seizures, and accelerated settlement expansion—moves that would effectively end prospects for a two-state solution envisioned under UN resolutions.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also attacked the PA on X, describing it as “terrorist” and warning, “If we do not dismantle it in time, we will wake up too late, as happened in Gaza,” referencing the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israeli communities and military bases.
Escalation in Gaza
Smotrich’s declaration comes amid a devastating escalation in Gaza, where the Health Ministry reports that nearly 65,200 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, with over 166,000 injured. Israeli military operations have intensified in Gaza City, forcing tens of thousands of residents onto coastal roads and flattening entire neighbourhoods with drone, fighter jet, and remote-controlled robot strikes.
On Friday, at least 40 Palestinians were killed, including two children, and dozens more were wounded as residential buildings and tents housing displaced families were destroyed.
Specific strikes in central Gaza targeted Deir al-Balah and the Nuseirat refugee camp, while southern Gaza’s Al-Mawasi area saw the deaths of two siblings when Israeli shelling hit a displacement tent. Hospitals continue to struggle with mounting casualties, while many victims remain trapped under rubble, unreachable by rescue teams.
Diplomatic tensions and international response
The diplomatic fallout continues to escalate. Brazil recently filed a declaration of intervention at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in a case brought by South Africa against Israel over alleged violations of the Genocide Convention.
Meanwhile, the United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire — despite support from 14 of the 15 council members.
Tensions have also flared in Jerusalem, where Israeli police arrested Sheikh Mohammad Sarandah, the Al-Aqsa Mosque’s preacher, after Friday prayers. He was later released but barred from entering the mosque for a week, in a move observers link to restrictions on sermons about Gaza.
The impact on journalism has been severe. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that Israeli strikes on September 10 destroyed two newspaper offices in Sana’a, Yemen, killing 31 journalists and media workers—the deadliest single attack on the press since 2009.
The CPJ accused Israel of expanding its “war on journalism” beyond Gaza, violating international law, and placing journalists across the region at grave risk.
Photo: Smoke billows over Gaza City following Israeli airstrikes on al-Jalaa Street, a residential area sheltering thousands of displaced Palestinians. (September 19, 2025 | Credit: Saeed M. M. T. Jaras/AA)
