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Does Israeli Minister's Anti-Palestinian Statement Undermine Sharm el-Sheikh Understandings?

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks at a news conference in Jerusalem (Reuters)
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks at a news conference in Jerusalem (Reuters)
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Does Israeli Minister's Anti-Palestinian Statement Undermine Sharm el-Sheikh Understandings?

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks at a news conference in Jerusalem (Reuters)
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks at a news conference in Jerusalem (Reuters)

Egypt denounced the recent “inflammatory” statements of Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on the Palestinian people, saying they undermined peace efforts.

Last Sunday, Egyptian, Jordanian, Israeli, Palestinian, and US security officials and politicians met in Sharm el-Sheikh following Cairo's invitation to complete the understanding reached in Aqaba on Feb. 26.

The parties agreed on the "necessity of calm" ahead of Ramadan, and they decided to develop a mechanism to curb incitement and inflammatory statements and actions.

The mechanism must submit reports to the leaders of the five countries next April when resuming the meeting session in Sharm El-Sheikh.

Only hours after these understandings, Smotrich denied the existence of a Palestinian people or nationhood, saying there was "no such thing as Palestinians because there's no such thing as the Palestinian people."

Egypt's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ahmed Abu Zeid, described the Israeli minister's statements as "irresponsible and inflammatory," noting that the racist gestures that deny history and geography fuel anger and tension among Palestinians and the people of the free world.

Abu Zeid said such statements undermine efforts to achieve calm between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, especially ahead of Ramadan, which coincides with the Christian and Jewish holidays, all of which establish meanings of tolerance, peace, and respect for others.

An Egyptian official, who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat on condition of anonymity, considered Smotrich's statements a violation of the Sharm el-Sheikh understandings.

He indicated that the US and Egypt stressed during the Sharm el-Sheikh meeting that the Tel Aviv government must maintain stability and calm, rejecting any hostile statements or actions from the far-right ministers that could further exacerbate the situation.

The source said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must control his government, warning of the consequences of unilateral Israeli actions and their impact on achieving calm.

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Israeli Troops, Palestinian Fighters Clash in West Bank after Incidents Near Settlements

Israeli troops move inside the Jenin refugee camp on the fourth day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 31 August 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
Israeli troops move inside the Jenin refugee camp on the fourth day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 31 August 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
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Israeli Troops, Palestinian Fighters Clash in West Bank after Incidents Near Settlements

Israeli troops move inside the Jenin refugee camp on the fourth day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 31 August 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
Israeli troops move inside the Jenin refugee camp on the fourth day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 31 August 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH

Clashes broke out between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters in the occupied West Bank on Saturday as Israel pushed ahead with a military operation in the flashpoint city of Jenin.
Israeli troops searched areas around Jewish settlements after two separate security incidents on Friday evening. In Jenin itself, drones and helicopters circled overhead while the sound of sporadic firing could be heard in the city, said Reuters.
Hundreds of Israeli troops have been carrying out raids since Wednesday in one of their largest actions in the West Bank in months.
The operation, which Israel says was mounted to block Iranian-backed militant groups from attacking its citizens, has drawn international calls for a halt.
At least 19 Palestinians, including armed fighters and civilians, have now been killed since it began. The Israeli military said on Saturday a soldier had been killed during the fighting in the West Bank.
The Israeli forces were battling Palestinian fighters from armed factions that have long had a strong presence in Jenin and the adjoining refugee camp, a densely populated township housing families driven from their homes in the 1948 Middle East war around the creation of Israel.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Saturday a child had been taken to hospital in Jenin with a bullet wound to the head.
The escalation in hostilities in the West Bank takes place as fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas group still rages in the coastal Gaza Strip nearly 11 months since it began, and hostilities with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in the Israel-Lebanon border area have intensified.
Late on Friday, Israeli forces said two men were killed in separate incidents near Gush Etzion, a large West Bank settlement cluster located south of Jerusalem, that the military assessed were both attempted attacks on Israelis.
In the first, a car exploded at a petrol station in what the army said was an attempted car bombing attack. The military said a man was shot dead after he got out of the car and tried to attack soldiers.
In the second incident, a man was killed after the military said a car attempted to ram a security guard and infiltrate the Karmei Tzur settlement. The car was chased by security forces and crashed and an explosive device in it was detonated, the military said in a statement.
The two deaths were confirmed by Palestinian health authorities but they gave no details on how they died.
Troops combed the area following the two incidents. Security forces also carried out raids in the city of Hebron, where the two men came from.
Hamas praised what it called a "double heroic operation" in the West Bank. It said in a statement it was "a clear message that resistance will remain striking, prolonged and sustained as long as the brutal occupation's aggression and targeting of our people and land continue".
The group, however, did not claim direct responsibility for the attacks.
Israeli army chief General Herzi Halevi said on Saturday Israel would step up defensive measures as well as offensive actions like the Jenin operation.
Amid the gunfire, armored bulldozers searching for roadside bombs have ploughed up large stretches of paved roads and water pipes have been damaged, leading to flooding in some areas.
Since the Hamas attack on Israel last October that triggered the Gaza war, at least 660 Palestinian combatants and civilians have been killed in the West Bank, according to Palestinian tallies, some by Israeli troops and some by Jewish settlers who have carried out frequent attacks on Palestinian communities.
Israel says Iran provides weapons and support to militant factions in the West Bank - under Israeli occupation since the 1967 Middle East war - and the military has as a result cranked up its operations there.