Follow-ups - FiMED

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has renewed his calls to dismantle and disarm the Palestinian Authority, expand Israeli forces' open-fire powers, and encourage Palestinian emigration from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, in remarks that reflect his hardline approach toward the Palestinians, amid intensifying political competition in Israel ahead of elections scheduled for October 27..

Ben Gvir said, according to remarks attributed to him, that he wants to dismantle the Palestinian Authority and seize its weapons, change open-fire regulations for Israeli army soldiers, and encourage emigration from Gaza and the West Bank, adding: "I have many dreams I want to implement."

Dismantling the Authority and Expanding the Use of Force

These remarks intersect with positions Ben Gvir has previously announced regarding the future of the Palestinian Authority, as he has called for disarming it, threatened to work toward dismantling it, and demanded that restrictions on Israeli forces' use of force against Palestinians be eased.

In an interview with Israeli Channel 14, Ben Gvir said the three administrative areas in the West Bank, "A," "B" and "C," belong to Israel, a position that conflicts with the arrangements stipulated in the Oslo Accords.

He added that he would push for the displacement of Palestinians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip if he took over the War Ministry, and said that expanding open-fire powers would reduce the need for more troops, according to the channel.

"Encouraging Emigration" from Gaza and the West Bank

The call to encourage Palestinian emigration is one of the constant axes of Ben Gvir's political discourse. In December 2024, he said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had shown greater openness to the idea of encouraging Palestinian emigration from the Gaza Strip, stressing that he was working to advance this approach in coordination with him, according to The Times of Israel.

In July 2025, Ben Gvir also called for the full occupation of the Gaza Strip and encouraging emigration from it, rejecting at the time any settlement that would not, in his view, lead to the fall of Hamas.

In remarks reported by the Israeli newspaper "Makor Rishon"  on October 11, 2026, Ben Gvir said he had "dreams of returning to Gaza, because everything is ours, and encouraging emigration," adding that he believed five countries had agreed to receive a total of 100,000 people, hinting that the matter, as he understood it, did not stop at the American side.

Remarks in the Context of Electoral Competition

These positions come at a time when Ben Gvir and his party, Otzma Yehudit, are seeking to strengthen their political presence ahead of the Israeli elections, and recent press coverage indicates that the party is promoting a more hardline discourse on security and Palestinian issues, while Ben Gvir places dismantling the Authority, encouraging emigration and expanding the use of force among his declared political priorities.

The implications of these remarks are not limited to the future of the Palestinian Authority, but extend to the possibility of escalation in Israeli policies in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, amid continued right-wing calls to impose Israeli control over more Palestinian land.