The Palestinian Authority, Arab countries, and the Gulf Cooperation Council have condemned Israeli plans to annex the occupied West Bank, warning that such a move would escalate regional tensions and undermine the two-state solution.
Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said early on Wednesday that Israel plans to annex 82 percent of the occupied West Bank to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Smotrich said the main principle of the annexation is “the maximum land with the minimum Arab population.”
He called the occupied West Bank annexation “a preventative step” against moves by many countries to recognise Palestinian statehood.
'Crimes of extermination'
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said Israel’s unilateral measures, including settlement expansion and land seizures, will not create any legal right for the occupation in Palestinian land.
It called Smotrich’s statements “a direct threat to the prospects of establishing a Palestinian state” and “an extension of systematic incitement aimed at deepening annexation, displacement, and crimes of extermination.”
Jordan’s Foreign Ministry condemned Smotrich’s “racist” remarks and his “incursion into occupied Palestinian territory”, describing them as a flagrant breach of international law and a challenge to the global consensus on a two-state solution.
Ministry spokesman Sufian Qudah warned that the absence of international accountability only fuels further “aggressive statements and measures” by Israeli officials.
'Dangerous and provocative'
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi also decried the “dangerous and provocative calls” by Smotrich, saying they reflect a deliberate Israeli policy to destabilise the region and sabotage peace efforts.
He urged the international community to take “immediate and decisive” steps to halt Israel’s unilateral practices, reiterating the GCC’s support for the Palestinian people’s right to establish an independent state along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The United Arab Emirates also warned against any Israeli annexation of the West Bank, with Lana Nusseibeh, the assistant foreign minister for political affairs, calling such a move “a red line” for her country.
“It would kill the idea of regional integration and sound the death knell for a two-state solution,” she told The Times of Israel news outlet.
The international community considers all Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank illegal under international law, with the UN repeatedly warning that settlement expansion threatens the viability of a two-state solution.
In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal.
It demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
