Israel’s far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has taken to X to call out the settlers reported to have “set fire to and vandalised” an Israeli security site used for surveillance in the Ramallah area of the occupied West Bank, calling them “criminals”, Al Jazeera reports.
“Violence against beloved [Israeli army] soldiers and Israel Police and the destruction of property are forbidden and cross a red line,” he said.
This marks a rare criticism of settlers in the occupied West Bank by Smotrich, who has openly pushed for more Israeli settlements — illegal under international law — as steps towards annexation.