Israel plans to start work next month on a bypass road that will close off the heart of the occupied West Bank to Palestinians and cement the de facto annexation of an area critical for the viability of a future Palestinian state. The road is a key part of the blueprint for a vast illegal new settlement in the E1 area east of Jerusalem, which would fragment the occupied West Bank.
The UN Human Rights office for Palestine has warned that Israel is rapidly accelerating its campaign to annex the occupied West Bank, with settlers adding outposts at a pace 10 times higher than the previous average rate just in the past year. Recent settler attacks on the olive harvest have underscored the danger faced by Palestinian communities, the office noted, with this season alone seeing 150 settler attacks so far.
The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel, Vance told reporters, according to The Times of Israel. The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. That will continue to be our policy, and if people want to take symbolic votes they can do that, but we certainly weren't happy about it.
Israel's parliament has voted to give preliminary approval to a bill to impose Israeli sovereignty on the occupied West Bank, in a move tantamount to annexation of the Palestinian territory, which would be a blatant violation of international law. Despite opposition from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party, lawmakers in the 120-seat Knesset voted 25-24 on Tuesday to advance the bill, in the first of four votes needed to pass it into law.
The plan precluded the future annexation of the West Bank, which so alarmed Netanyahu's allies in Israel that they dispatched Jewish settler leaders to the U.S. to talk him out of signing. Israel's far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, issued three demands: that the Palestinian Authority play no role in the future governance of Gaza; that Hamas completely disarm; and that there be no mention of a future Palestinian state. The proposal overlooked all three.
The intrigue: Netanyahu, who vehemently opposes a Palestinian state, will visit Trump in Washington after the assembly to seek his blessing for a strong response. The most extreme option under discussion is the annexation of most or all of the occupied West Bank. Driving the news: On Sunday, the U.K., Canada and Australia jointly announced recognition of Palestine. They were joined later by Portugal, bringing the total number of countries now recognizing Palestine over 150.
The White House has already sent invitations for the meeting, which is expected to take place on Tuesday at 2:30pm ET. The leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey have been invited to participate, according to the Arab officials. The White House wants the invited Arab and Muslim countries to take part in a post-war plan for Gaza and even send troops for a stabilization force that will replace the Israeli military, sources say.
Israel's next move will depend on the stance of President Trump, who blocked Israeli annexations twice in his first term. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told Axios the administration doesn't yet have a position. "I don't know how extensive [the planned annexation] is. I'm not sure there is common view inside the Israeli government about where would it be and how much," he said. Some Israeli officials claim the Trump administration won't oppose annexation because they're so angry at the countries planning to recognize Palestine.
