Smotrich storms the Russian area in Majd al-Krum in the occupied Galilee

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stormed the Russian area in the town of Majd al-Krum in the Galilee, amid heavy security deployment and aerial surveillance. The incursion came a day after he announced a meeting for his faction at an outpost recently removed following popular and legal activism. Residents of the town rejected the step, considering it an attempt to impose a settlement reality.

Israeli Finance Minister, the extremist Bezalel Smotrich, stormed this morning, Thursday, the Russian area belonging to the town of Majd al-Krum in the Galilee, amid heavy security deployment and ground and aerial surveillance. Large forces of the Israeli police surrounded the area and prevented Arab citizens from crossing a security barrier erected at the entrance to the Russian area, concurrently with a helicopter and drones flying in the area's skies. The incursion came a day after he announced that the "Religious Zionism" party would hold a meeting for its faction at the site of the outpost that was recently established in the Russian area, before its dismantling following widespread popular and legal activism by the residents of Majd al-Krum and the region. The popular committee and the local council in Majd al-Krum had rejected holding the meeting in the area, considering the step an attempt to impose a settlement reality on the town's lands. In a related context, activists from the Israeli right last night erected Israeli flags on both sides of Highway 85 adjacent to Majd al-Krum, a step that caused tension in the area. Data indicates that the lands under the control of the Jewish National Fund were owned, before the Nakba, by Palestinians, while the current plan is to re-establish the outpost hundreds of meters from the town.