Donald Trump has said he will not allow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The US president told White House reporters ahead of Netanyahu's address to the UN General Assembly on Friday: I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank... It's not going to happen. Trump, who will meet Netanyahu on Monday, also said a ceasefire deal over the war in Gaza was pretty close.
Israel is facing increasing global pressure to end the conflict and occupation of the West Bank, as a wave of Western states formally recognize an independent Palestinian state. Far-right Israelis view annexation as a means of preventing a Palestinian state from being created.
Ultranationalists in Netanyahu's governing coalition have repeated calls for Israel to annex the West Bank - part of the Palestinian territories - outright. The UK and Germany have warned Israel against annexation, while UN Secretary General António Guterres stated that such a move would be morally, legally, and politically intolerable.
On Wednesday morning, Israel closed the only crossing between the Israeli-occupied West Bank and neighboring Jordan, effectively preventing more than two million Palestinians from accessing the outside world. The closure occurred days after two Israeli military personnel were shot dead near the crossing by a Jordanian gunman.
In Gaza, recent Israeli military campaigns have resulted in a significant number of Palestinian casualties, amid ongoing conflict and humanitarian crises. With calls from various nations to recognize Palestinian statehood and an EU proposal to impose sanctions, tensions around annexation and warfare continue to escalate.
Israel is facing increasing global pressure to end the conflict and occupation of the West Bank, as a wave of Western states formally recognize an independent Palestinian state. Far-right Israelis view annexation as a means of preventing a Palestinian state from being created.
Ultranationalists in Netanyahu's governing coalition have repeated calls for Israel to annex the West Bank - part of the Palestinian territories - outright. The UK and Germany have warned Israel against annexation, while UN Secretary General António Guterres stated that such a move would be morally, legally, and politically intolerable.
On Wednesday morning, Israel closed the only crossing between the Israeli-occupied West Bank and neighboring Jordan, effectively preventing more than two million Palestinians from accessing the outside world. The closure occurred days after two Israeli military personnel were shot dead near the crossing by a Jordanian gunman.
In Gaza, recent Israeli military campaigns have resulted in a significant number of Palestinian casualties, amid ongoing conflict and humanitarian crises. With calls from various nations to recognize Palestinian statehood and an EU proposal to impose sanctions, tensions around annexation and warfare continue to escalate.
