Gaza, Sep 4 (IANS) Palestinians have rejected Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s call to annex most of the occupied West Bank and expand settlements, saying it threatened any prospect of a future Palestinian state.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Smotrich’s remarks were a “direct threat” to Palestinian statehood and amounted to “public incitement” against the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian rights, Xinhua news agency reported.
It said all unilateral Israeli measures to change the status quo in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, were “illegitimate and void from the outset”.
The Ministry urged the international community to impose sanctions to pressure Israel to halt what it called violent oppression and settlement expansion.
Hamas also condemned the plan, saying it would only bring “further challenges and confrontation,” and called on Arab and Islamic states to resist Israeli “colonial policies” that violate international law and seek to erase the Palestinian cause.
Smotrich told a news conference in Jerusalem earlier on Wednesday that Israel should apply sovereignty to about 82 per cent of the West Bank to block the creation of a Palestinian state.
“It is time to apply Israeli sovereignty,” he said, calling for “maximum territory and minimum (Palestinian) population”.
Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would meet Ministers, including Smotrich, on Thursday to discuss the annexation proposal.
Kan TV said the move was being considered in response to European efforts to recognise a Palestinian state at the upcoming UN General Assembly in New York.
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war and has since built settlements there.
The settlements are regarded as illegal under international law and are a key obstacle to peace talks, which have been frozen since 2014.
Speaking after Smotrich made his remarks, an official from the United Arab Emirates said Israeli annexation of the West Bank would be a “red line” for the UAE, which established formal ties with Israel in 2020 under US-brokered accords.
A spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday that “any annexation or settlement activity by Israel is illegitimate, condemned, and unacceptable”.
Abdel Hakim Hanini, an official of the Palestinian militant group Hamas which is a rival of Abbas’ Fatah, said annexing the West Bank would not bring Israel the security it seeks and instead “lead to further resistance and confrontation”.
Israel, which is facing mounting international criticism over the war in Gaza, has been angered by pledges by France, Britain, Australia and Canada to formally recognise a Palestinian state during the UN General Assembly in September.
–IANS
int/khz
