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November 14, 2024 | 01:39 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu plans to annex West Bank when President-elect of the US Donald Trump takes office. According to the Israeli public broadcasting agency KAN as quoted from Anadolu, Netanyahu said in a closed-door conversation that he will reintroduce annexation of the West Bank into his government's agenda when Trump takes office.
On Monday, right-wing Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich instructed the Israeli Settlement and Civil Administration Division to begin basic infrastructure work to implement sovereignty in the West Bank. "We are on the brink of applying sovereignty over settlements in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) before the Biden administration. Now is the time to act," said Smotrich.
As cited by Reuters, Smotrich said on Monday, November 11, 2024, that he hopes Israel will expand its territory to the West Bank next year. Israel will engage with the incoming Trump administration to gain Washington's support.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said that Smotrich's statement confirms Israel's government intention to annex the West Bank, which is contrary to international law. "We consider the Israeli occupation authority fully responsible for the impacts of this dangerous policy," he said. The United States also bears responsibility for its ongoing support for Israeli aggression.
In 2020, Netanyahu planned to annex illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley. The plan was outlined in the Middle East peace deal announced by Trump in January of the same year.
The territories Netanyahu planned to annex at that time encompassed about 30 percent of the West Bank. However, his plan was not implemented due to international pressure and lack of US approval.
International law considers the West Bank and East Jerusalem as occupied territories and deems all Jewish settlement construction activities there as illegal.
Tensions escalated in the occupied West Bank due to Israel's brutal attacks in Gaza Strip, which have killed more than 43,600 Palestinian civilians, mostly women and children, since October 7, 2023.
At least 780 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 6,300 others injured by Israeli army gunfire in the occupied territories, according to the Health Ministry.
Editor's Choice: Entire Generation in Gaza Would Lose Education if UNRWA Collapses, says UN
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