GENEVA

Italian MEP Lucia Annunziata said Friday she will not join next week's European Parliament delegation to Israel, citing the country's recent approval of a law to annex the West Bank, according to media reports on Friday.

"I have decided not to participate in a mission by the European Parliament delegation to Israel at the invitation of the Knesset scheduled for next week," Annunziata said, cited by ANSA.

She explained why she declined the Knesset's invitation by saying that the recent approval of the law for the annexation of the West Bank and the continuous and indiscriminate attacks on the UN "demonstrate that the Israeli Parliament is not ready to talk about peace."

The lawmaker added that her decision "was taken in agreement with the Democratic Party at national level."

In a first reading on Wednesday, the Israeli parliament passed two bills, one to annex the occupied West Bank and another to annex the Ma’ale Adumim settlement built on Palestinian land east of Jerusalem. Both bills require three additional readings before becoming law.

If enacted, the annexation would end any remaining possibility of implementing the two-state solution envisioned by UN resolutions.

In a joint statement, 15 countries, including Türkiye, along with the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, condemned Israel’s approval of draft laws imposing so-called “Israeli sovereignty” over the West Bank.

In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.