Quds News Network

Washington (QNN)- US President Donald Trump claimed that he would not allow Israel to annex the occupied West Bank, as Arab and Muslim leaders who met with him on Wednesday clearly expressed their opposition to the move, which comes in response to a recent wave of countries recognizing Palestinian statehood. Speaking at the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump said: “I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. I will not allow it. Not going to happen.” After a reporter asked if Trump spoke to Netanyahu, he responded: “Whether I spoke to him or not, I did, but I’m not allowing Israel to annex the West Bank. There has been enough, time to stop now”, without offering details of what actions he would take to prevent the possible annexation of the occupied West Bank. Trump made the comments as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was arriving in New York to deliver an address to the United Nations General Assembly on Friday. Arab, Muslim and European leaders have expressed opposition for the annexation and engaged in an intensive lobbying operation to make sure he did not go through with the recognition of the illegal West Bank settlements. 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. 178 Members of the House Democratic Caucus send a new letter to Israel expressing their united strong opposition to Israeli annexation of the West Bank. What You Need to Know In July, Israeli lawmakers voted 71-to-13 in favour of a non-binding motion in the Knesset calling for the annexation of the West Bank. The proposal was initially brought by Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who lives in an illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank and holds a position within Israel’s Ministry of Defence where he oversees the administration of illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land. Recently, in advance of Australia, France, Britain, Canada, Portugal and other countries moving to recognize Palestinian statehood, Smotrich unveiled a widely-condemned plan allowing for the construction of thousands of housing units in an illegal settlement which “buries the idea of a Palestinian state” and would divide the occupied West Bank in two. At that time, Smotrich said he had support from the US President and Netanyahu for his plan. Around 700,000 Israeli settlers live in roughly 300 illegal settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Settlements are illegal under international law. Smotrich and other Israeli figures have repeatedly spoken of the “sovereignty plan”, referring to the formal annexation of parts of the West Bank through changing the reality on the ground.

Trump Claims He “Will Not Allow” Israel to Annex Occupied West Bank

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