Broad warnings of a possible Israeli announcement to annex parts of the West Bank

The Palestinian government, Jordan, and the United Nations have warned of a possible Israeli decision to annex Palestinian lands, while the European Union is discussing proposed wording to respond to Israel if it announces the decision.

Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh confirmed that the Palestinian leadership will be in the process of making a detailed and historic decision to confront the annexation decision if it is announced by the new Israeli government.   

Jordan called on the European Union countries to "confront" the Israeli plan to annex parts of the West Bank, stressing that this would undermine the two-state solution.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Al-Safadi stressed, according to a statement by the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs during his meeting Thursday with the European Union ambassadors to the Kingdom, the importance of the European Union’s role in efforts to confront any Israeli decision to annex occupied Palestinian lands.

He torpedoed the foundations of the peace process and
explained that the annexation decision, if implemented, would blow up the foundations of all peaceful efforts over the past decades and would kill the two-state solution and make the one-state option an inevitable hope, which would put the entire world in front of a reality that enshrines the apartheid regime.

Al-Safadi stressed the necessity of taking effective measures to prevent Israel from annexing the settlements, the Jordan Valley and the North Dead Sea region in occupied Palestine, in order to protect international law and protect comprehensive peace "which constitutes a regional and international imperative."

Al-Safadi stressed the need to launch serious direct negotiations to resolve the conflict on the basis of a two-state solution and in accordance with international law and relevant international legitimacy resolutions.

Experts point out that this step could lead Jordan to withdraw from the peace agreement it signed with Israel in 1994 in the event that it annexed the Jordan Valley with which it shares borders.

European Union and European
diplomatic sources said that the meeting of foreign ministers of European Union countries scheduled for Friday in Brussels will discuss the proposed formulas to respond to Israel if it decided to annex parts of the West Bank.

But the same sources have avoided talking about the nature of these decisions because of differences among member states over the position on Israel. At the same time, the sources affirmed the union's adherence to the two-state solution and its reservation to the US peace plan proposed by US President Donald Trump last February.

The principle of a two-state solution
, for its part, warned the United Nations during a press conference held by Stephen Dujarric, spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, Thursday that any unilateral Israeli action, especially annexation of Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank, would harm the principle of the two-state solution.

Dujarric's remarks came in response to reporters 'questions about Guterres' position from statements made by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday in Israel, in which he claimed that Israel has the right and duty to decide to impose its sovereignty on settlements in the West Bank.

Dujarric said that Guterres had expressed his position before, especially through the statement made by Nikolai Miladinov, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process on his behalf, to the Security Council, adding that the Secretary-General expressed deep concern about any unilateral action, especially annexation Who would harm the two-state solution (Palestinian and Israeli)?

Dujarric added that the UN position on annexation could not be hidden, and at the Security Council meeting, the session on April 23 was public and in the presence of the Permanent Representative of Israel and the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine, during which Mladenov warned that any possible annexation of Palestinian lands to Israel would be a blow Devastating the principle of a two-state solution.

American support for Israel
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to impose Israeli sovereignty on the Jordan Valley, the strategic region that constitutes 30% of the West Bank.

And US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Israel on Wednesday for talks on Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, on his first sneak visit abroad in nearly two months.

According to the Netanyahu deal and his defense minister, Benny Gantz, the new Israeli government could go ahead with the annexation process from July on, in consultation with the US administration, which indicated that it had no objections.