Israeli prime minister to convene session on annexation of occupied West Bank

JERUSALEM / ISTANBUL

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to hold a meeting on Tuesday to discuss a possible annexation of the occupied West Bank, local media said.

The daily Yedioth Ahronoth said the planned meeting will be the second in two weeks, after a ministerial session was held to explore ways of annexing the territory.

The move “comes against the backdrop of diplomatic pressure for the recognition of a Palestinian state,” the newspaper said.

Several countries, including Belgium, France, the UK, Canada, and Australia, announced plans to recognize Palestinian statehood during the UN General Assembly meetings on September 8-23, joining 147 nations that already do.

Last week, Israeli news outlet Walla, citing sources familiar with the matter, said Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Israel was preparing to annex the West Bank in the coming months.

According to the Haaretz newspaper, the Israeli Security Cabinet was asked by Netanyahu on Sunday to discuss Israel’s response to the planned recognition of a Palestinian state “via pushing for the annexation of the West Bank.”

On Aug. 20, Israel approved a major settlement project, called E1, which aims to split the occupied West Bank into two parts, cutting off the northern cities of Ramallah and Nablus from Bethlehem and Hebron in the south and isolating East Jerusalem.

The international community, including the UN, considers the Israeli settlements illegal under international law. The UN has repeatedly warned that continued settlement expansion threatens the viability of a two-state solution, a framework seen as key to resolving the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, at least 1,016 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the West Bank by Israeli forces and illegal settlers, according to the Health Ministry.

In an advisory 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.