The US secretary of state has said a move by Israel’s parliament towards annexation of the occupied West Bank would threaten Washington’s plan to end the conflict in Gaza.
“That’s not something we can be supportive of right now,” Marco Rubio said before leaving for Israel as part of US efforts to shore up a fragile ceasefire deal.
In an apparent attempt to embarrass Israel’s prime minister, far-right politicians took the symbolic step of giving preliminary approval to a bill granting Israel authority to annex the West Bank.
At the end of his own trip to Israel, US Vice-President JD Vance said: “If it was a political stunt, it was a very stupid political stunt and I personally take some insult.”
“The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel. The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel,” he told reporters at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport on Thursday.”
The Palestinians claim the West Bank – occupied by Israel since 1967 – as part of a hoped-for independent state.
Last year, the International Court of Justice – the UN’s top court – said Israel’s occupation was illegal under international law.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously spoken in support of annexing West Bank land but has not advanced this due to the risk of alienating the US – Israel’s most important ally – and Arab countries which have built relations with Israel after decades of enmity.
Ultra-nationalists in Netanyahu’s governing coalition have repeatedly called for Israel to annex the West Bank outright, though the bill was put forward by MPs outside the government.
Credit: bbc.com
