West Bank: One more step to full Israeli takeover

[Opinion. The colonies themselves are illegal. Now Israel plans to steal the West Bank because highly-trained, heavily-armed IDF soldiers aren’t able to bring Israeli civilians under control. Pitiful.]

Israeli military plans to transfer law enforcement in occupied West Bank to police

Palestine’s vice-president calls plan ‘flagrant violation of international law’ and a step towards full Israeli annexation

Emma Graham-Harrison in Jerusalem

The Guardian: 14 Aug 2026

SOURCE: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/14/israeli-military-plans-transfer-law-enforcement-in-occupied-west-bank-to-police

Israel’s defence minister wants to transfer law enforcement powers for Israelis in the occupied West Bank over to the police, a plan that Palestine’s vice-president described as a “flagrant violation of international law” and step towards full Israeli annexation.

The Palestinian vice-president, Hussein al-Sheikh, called for international intervention to enforce international law and stop a move that would “entrench the illegitimate annexation of Palestinian land”.

Katz unveiled his plan as a settler siege in the Palestinian village of Qusra entered its sixth day. The Israeli army has proved unable or unwilling to remove the group of militants trying to drive out Palestinian residents through a campaign of terror.

Michael Sfard, a leading Israeli human rights lawyer, said a transfer of law enforcement powers could constitute a major step towards formal annexation.

“This is a cowardly statement made by a minister of defence who is under scrutiny, because the army that reached Syria, Iran and Lebanon and annihilated Gaza cannot evacuate a few Jewish terrorists that invaded a Palestinian home in an area under occupation for six decades.”