Jordan's King Abdullah II has warned that Israel's planned move to annex parts of the occupied West Bank next month would threaten stability in the Middle East.
A statement issued by the royal palace said that King Abdullah II warned that "any unilateral Israeli action to annex lands in the West Bank is unacceptable and undermines the chances of peace and stability in the region."
The Jordanian king's statements came during a meeting with committees and leaders in the American Congress, including the leader of the Republican majority in the Senate, Senator Mitch McConnell, discussing the strategic partnership relations between the two countries and regional developments.
During these discussions, the King stressed the need to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of a two-state solution, reaffirming the importance of establishing a Palestinian state on the borders of June 4, 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to establish sovereignty over the Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley, lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 war and Palestinians seek to establish their state on.
He also pledged never to recognize, under any circumstance, the principle of establishing a Palestinian state, according to what was reported by the head of the government coalition and head of the Likud Knesset (parliament), Miki Zohar, who is close to Netanyahu, according to Israeli Channel Seven.
Netanyahu's new government is due to begin discussing actual annexation on July 1, but it is unclear whether the United States, Israel's main ally, will give the green light to the move.
Palestinian estimates indicate that the annexation will reach more than 30% of the occupied West Bank.
The move paves the way for putting the controversial US plan for peace between the Palestinians and Israel, which stipulates that a united Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and the establishment of a capital for the Palestinian state east of Jerusalem, be put into practice.
Russian and European refused
In the context, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed his country's common position with the European Union, and refused to annex Israel to parts of the Palestinian territories in the West Bank.
He confirmed after phone talks with European Union foreign affairs official Josep Boyle that this decision constituted a threat to the two-state solution.
For his part, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi denied the media reports that talked about Pakistan's recognition of Israel, and the Pakistani official reiterated that his country's position is the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
Violation of international law
, experts from the United Nations said that the Israeli government's intention to annex parts of the West Bank violates the principles of international law, and UN experts on the Human Rights Council called on the international community to reject the Israeli decision.
Experts added that the Israeli occupation is carrying out profound human rights violations against the Palestinian people, including land confiscation, settler violence, confiscation of natural resources, house demolitions, excessive use of force and torture, and others.