Settlement expert: Israel seeks to turn Palestinian areas in the West Bank into prisons under its control.

The settlement expert Khalil Tafakji stated that the Israeli occupation is politically and economically pressuring the Palestinian National Authority to retract its demand for recognition of the Palestinian state.

He pointed out that the occupation seeks to turn the Palestinian areas in the fully occupied West Bank into prisons under its control. Tafakji's remarks came in the context of his comments on Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's statements, in which he said that 'Israel will not allow the establishment of a Palestinian state regardless of the challenges.'

Smotrich also threatened to 'exterminate' the Palestinian Authority 'if it dares to raise its head and harm us.' The expert on Israeli affairs added that Smotrich's statements today are a threat to the Palestinian side to retract its measures aimed at recognizing the Palestinian state.

He noted that the occupation is accustomed to such threats, as it did in the case of the separation wall and in the matter of Judge Richard Goldstone's report on the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

He said that the Israeli occupation talks about 82% of the land, meaning it is not talking about Palestinian residents, but about empty land, and that all the built-up Palestinian areas in the West Bank amount to 6%, which means it wants to turn them into prisons under Israeli control.

Smotrich stated in his remarks: 'We do not want to manage the lives of our enemies; sovereignty will be applied to 82% of the land' in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli occupation aims to implement a decision dating back to 2005 proposed by an Israeli orientalist, which stipulates that within Palestinian cities there should be a state of clans or tribes or emirates that have friendly relations with the Israeli side and hostile relations with Palestinian tribes and clans.

He revealed that the Israeli vision is now being proposed in the Hebron area, to form a special emirate that recognizes Israel and implements its orders, but its relationship would be hostile with the rest of the Palestinian cities.

The Israeli Knesset had approved on July 23 of last year a proposal calling for the imposition of 'Israeli sovereignty' over the occupied West Bank - including the Jordan Valley - by a majority of 71 votes to only 13 opposed, a move that was condemned by the Palestinian presidency and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) as invalid and illegitimate, undermining the chances for peace and a two-state solution.

It is noteworthy that the Israeli threats to the Palestinian side come after many European and Western countries, most notably France, Britain, Canada, and Australia, decided that they would recognize a Palestinian state during the General Assembly meetings to be held from September 9 to 23 this year.