JERUSALEM

The Israeli government intends to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, Minister of Settlement Affairs Tzachi Hanegbi said on Monday.

“It doesn't make sense that half a million people who live in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) cannot live under Israeli law. We did it in the Golan Heights and we will do it in Judea and Samaria,” Hanegbi said in an interview with i24NEWS Channel.

He, however, did not specify a timeline for the Israeli annexation move.

The Israeli government had planned to annex parts of the occupied territory in July of last year, but postponed the move under international pressure.

Commenting on the future of Israel's relations with the Arab countries that signed normalization deals with Israel recently, Hanegbi said he can't predict the shape of how such relations in the near future could be.

"I cannot foresee how far the relations with the Gulf states will develop but it is an alliance which should be able to be made according to the decisions of the peoples too, the new agreements will change things,” he said.

Hanegbi added that Israel has "common interest with Oman" and expressed hope to "widen relations with Saudi Arabia."

In 2020, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco announced controversial normalization agreements with Israel. Palestinian leaders called the deals betrayals of the Palestinian cause.

*Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara