US President Donald Trump said on Thursday, 25 September, that he will not allow Israel to annex the occupied West Bank, marking a rare break from the Israeli government’s agenda.
“I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. Nope, I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen,” Trump said in the Oval Office, noting he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier in the day.
Trump’s remarks came as Netanyahu arrived in New York for the United Nations General Assembly and a meeting with the US president. The statement aligns Trump with Western and Arab nations that have long warned annexation would undermine the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state.
The announcement follows a proposal by Washington earlier this week outlining a 21-point plan to end the war in Gaza.
The plan included a permanent ceasefire, the release of Israeli hostages, and a framework for Gaza’s governance without Hamas, as well as Israel’s gradual withdrawal from the enclave.
Regional leaders welcomed parts of the proposal but stressed additional conditions, including halting settlement expansion and preventing any annexation of the West Bank.
This also comes as a number of Western countries, including France, Canada, and the United Kingdom, formally recognized the State of Palestine this month, further deepening Israel’s international isolation amid growing anger over its conduct in the Gaza war.
The West Bank, home to more than 3.3 million Palestinians, has been under Israeli occupation since 1967. In recent months, Israel has intensified operations in the territory, tightened movement restrictions, and expanded settlement construction, which is considered illegal under international law.
This comes after a United Nations (UN) report found that Israel’s war on Gaza amounts to genocide. The UN has officially declared the situation a genocide, with at least 65,141 people killed and 165,925 wounded since the onslaught began in October 2023. Many thousands more are believed to be buried under the rubble.
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