ISTANBUL

Palestine and Jordan condemned the Israeli Knesset's approval Wednesday of a non-binding motion in favor of annexing the West Bank.

Palestinian presidential spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh condemned the move.

“The call (for annexation) violates all resolutions of international legitimacy and international law, which affirm that the only path to achieving peace and stability lies in the establishment of an independent Palestinian state and that all Israeli colonial settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian Territory are illegal under international law,” he said.

Hussein Al-Sheikh, vice president of the Palestinian Authority, wrote on X that “the Israeli Knesset's demand for the Israeli government to impose Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank represents not only a direct assault on the rights of the Palestinian people but also a dangerous escalation that undermines the prospects for peace, stability and the two-state solution based on negotiation, which enforces and protects regional security.”

Al-Sheikh called on the international community “to uphold international legitimacy and its resolutions and to make efforts to stop these violations and prevent the consolidation of the occupation as a reality by force”

In a statement, Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said that Jordan "condemns in the strongest terms the Knesset’s vote on a declaration supporting Israeli sovereignty over the occupied West Bank and the Jordan Valley."

It described the vote as “a blatant violation of international law and a clear undermining of the two-state solution and the Palestinian people’s right to establish an independent, sovereign state along the June 4, 1967 lines, with occupied Jerusalem as its capital.”

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sufyan Qudah also referred to the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice which affirmed "the illegality of the Israeli occupation and the invalidity of settlement construction and the annexation measures in the West Bank.”

The Palestinian group Hamas released a statement saying “the vote by the Zionist occupation’s Knesset on a draft resolution to impose sovereignty over the occupied West Bank in preparation for annexation is null and void, has no legitimacy, and will not alter the identity of Palestinian land.”

Hamas called on Palestinians in the West Bank to "escalate resistance in all its forms to thwart the projects of the fascist Zionist occupation."

The group also urged the international community to take action to “put an end to the recklessness of the occupation, its fascist policies, and its ongoing violations of our Palestinian people’s rights.”

The Israeli Knesset, or parliament, voted Wednesday for a non-binding motion for the agenda to annex the occupied West Bank.

The motion was backed by 71 members of the 120-seat assembly against 13 votes, the Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported.

According to the newspaper, the proposal is not legally or legislatively binding but rather “a declaration by the Knesset.”

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Middle East War.

Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, nearly 1,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the occupied territory by Israeli forces and illegal settlers, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

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.