New Delhi: With just 69 days ahead of the Israeli parliamentary election, the Palestinian Ambassador to India, Abdullah M.A. Abushawesh, today, August 19, urged the international community to help Palestinians who are once again being made to pay the price for Israeli domestic politics. He said, “The international community should stop hiding behind softer terminology. It is time to call a spade, a spade: extremist Israeli terror”.He made the remarks at a press conference held at the Embassy of the State of Palestine in New Delhi. Calling Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, a “fugitive from international justice”, facing three criminal trials and currently fighting for his political and legal future, Abushawesh said Netanyahu’s “political survival depends heavily on securing support from Israel’s extreme right”. Palestinian Ambassador to India, Abdullah M.A. Abushawesh, today, August 19. Photo: Zainab Kazmi.After the 25th Knesset dissolved in July due to severe coalition fractures in Netanyahu’s coalition government, his existing right-wing coalition bloc has been struggling to convert the right-wing ideological shift into electoral support.Highlighting the annexation of the occupied West Bank, which has ultimately driven the Palestinians out of their homeland due to lingering Israeli settler terror and the policies designed to frighten them, Abushawesh said, “This is not merely election rhetoric. This is what is happening on the ground right now”. He rebuked the Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich for openly declaring the objective to “bury the idea of a Palestinian state” and pursue a policy of “maximum territory and minimum Palestinian population”. “Much of the Israeli opposition offers little reason for optimism,” said the ambassador, as “genuine commitment to just peace almost disappeared from Israeli political debate”. Abushawesh also highlighted Israel’s national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s recent insistence on “30-40 targeted assassinations” in Gaza every night. Speaking of Palestinian people, Ben-Gvir had said “there are people who are not worthy of life” and “they are not even people”. What the numbers sayThe ambassador shared that approximately US $ 431 million was allocated by the Israeli government in July 2026 to support the establishment of 34 settlements in the occupied West Bank, along with an additional amount of US $ 356 million for infrastructure. The graph issued by the Embassy of the State of Palestine in India demonstrates two parallel trends in the occupied West Bank. The graph above reflects the Growth of Israeli settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank from 1970 to 2026. It records approximately 141 official settlements and 363 settlement outposts. Meanwhile, the graph below illustrates the Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, from 2017 to 2026. It highlights the rise of attacks from 179 in 2017 to 1,360 incidents by late July. The ambassador said that as “Israel approaches its elections, Palestinians are once again being made to pay the price”. Where the ground reality in the Occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, “must be called terror carried out by extremists, racist Israelis”. He further mentions the United States Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who condemns Palestinians, has described the attacks by extremist Israeli settlers as “acts of terror”. He cited the fact that former Israeli prime ministers Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert have themselves described such actions as “Jewish terrorism”. “This is not ‘friction’. It is not ‘tension’. It is not a ‘disturbance of public order’. It is ‘terror’. The international community should stop hiding behind softer terminology. It is time to call a spade, a spade: extremist Israeli settler terror,” said Abushawesh. He further urged the International community to immediately act to stop Israel’s settlement expansion, forced displacement, and the de facto annexation. He affirmed that “Palestinians’ rights are not ballots to be counted in an Israeli election. With ballots, Israelis choose the leaders who will rule Palestinians with bullets”. Palestine and India trade relations Ambassador Abushawesh also responded to questions regarding India and Palestine’s historic relationship and India’s help in building a hospital in the West Bank, as reported by The Wire earlier. He also signalled enthusiasm for trade relations with India, especially in the agricultural sector, including Medjool dates, olive trees and Jaffa oranges, a strong symbol of Palestinian identity.