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Donald Trump has said he will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank, rejecting calls from some far-right politicians in Israel who want to extend sovereignty over the area and snuff out hopes for a Palestinian state.
“I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. Nope, I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, adding “There’s been enough. It’s time to stop now.”
Trump made the comments as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was arriving in New York to deliver an address to the United Nations on Friday. Netanyahu’s office said the prime minister would wait until he returns to Israel to address Trump’s remark.
Earlier this week, British officials said they feared Trump would recognise Israeli control over illegal settlements on the West Bank in retaliation for the UK, Australia, France and others deciding to recognise Palestine.
Arab and European leaders were engaged in an intensive lobbying operation to make sure he did not go through with the recognition of West Bank settlements.
Netanyahu has faced some pressure from his political allies to annex the West Bank, prompting alarm among Arab leaders, some of whom met on Tuesday with Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
Arab and Muslim countries warned Trump about the grave consequences of any annexation of the West Bank – a message the US president “understands very well,” according to Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud.
Israeli settlements have grown in size and number since Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 war. They stretch deep into the territory with a system of roads and other infrastructure under Israeli control, further slicing up the land. A widely condemned Israeli settlement plan known as the E1 project, which would bisect the occupied West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem, received final approval in August. It will cut across land that the Palestinians seek for a state.
Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, an ultra-nationalist in the ruling right-wing coalition that keeps Netanyahu in power, said at the time that a Palestinian state was “being erased from the table.”
About 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed in a move not recognised by most countries.
Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law. Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the area and saying the settlements provide strategic depth and security.
While international leaders gather at the United Nations in New York, the US presented a 21-point Middle East peace plan in a bid to end the nearly two-year-long war in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.
It was shared with leaders and officials from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia and Pakistan on Tuesday, according to US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Trump, who remains Israel’s staunchest ally on the world stage, said that he spoke with representatives from Middle Eastern nations and Netanyahu on Thursday and that a deal on Gaza could happen soon.
“We want the hostages back, we want the bodies back and we want to have peace in that region. So we had some very good talks,” he said.
Israel has drawn global condemnation over its war in Gaza, which is nearing the two-year mark with no ceasefire in sight. The conflict has caused major destruction and killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities. A global hunger monitor says part of the territory is suffering from famine.
With Reuters
