West Bank's Area C 'integral to State of Palestine' - PA prime minister

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh created a ministerial committee to promote the development of Area C declaring that region of the West Bank to be an “integral part of the State of Palestine.”

He warned his cabinet on Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government was working to “annex” that region. It comprises 60% of the West Bank and is under IDF military and civilian control, but the PA believes that all that territory should be part of its final borders.

Coalition members: 'Jewish people have natural, historical, legal right'

Coalition members in Netanyahu’s government immediately responded retorting that: “the Jewish people have a natural, historical and legal right to the entire Land of Israel. Even Mohammed Shtayyeh can’t oppose this basic truth.”

The statement was issued by Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman MK Yuli Edelstein (Likud), MK Limor   Son Har-Melech (Otzma Yehudit), and MK Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionist Party).

The three politicians believe that Area C, which they refer to as Judea and Samaria, should be part of Israel’s final borders and support the application of sovereignty to that territory.

They have called on the IDF to increase enforcement against illegal Palestinian construction in that territory, where few permits are granted for authorized Palestinian homes.

“If we do not wake up and increase enforcement and stop the PA’s actions, it will be a cry for generations,” they stated.

The increased focus on the development of Area C comes amid a push for an Israeli-Saudi normalization deal that would include concessions to the Palestinians. The PA would like Israel to place portions of Area C under its authority, as part of a move to guarantee that this territory would be part of its future state. 

Israel is expected to oppose such a move.