US pressures Israel on West Bank

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump issued a stark warning to Israel over annexing the West Bank in an interview published in Time magazine on Thursday, as visiting Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced confidence that a US-backed ceasefire in Gaza would hold.

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“It won't happen,” Trump said when asked about calls in Israel to annex the Palestinian West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967. “It won’t happen because I gave my word to the Arab countries. Israel would lose all of its support from the United States if that happened.”

Israeli lawmakers on Wednesday advanced two bills paving the way for West Bank annexation, leading to condemnation Thursday from US Vice-President JD Vance, who was in Israel at the time and who echoed Trump’s comments.

When asked on Thursday if he was concerned by the votes, Trump said: “Don’t worry about the West Bank. Israel’s not going to do anything with the West Bank.”

The US remains Israel's most important military and diplomatic supporter.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party boycotted and criticised the vote, although members of his ruling coalition support annexation.

Arab and Muslim countries, which the US has been courting to provide troops and money for a stabilisation force in Gaza — a key element of Trump’s ceasefire plan - have warned that annexation of the West Bank is a red line.

In a joint statement carried by Saudi state media on Thursday, more than a dozen such states including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Tiirkiye condemned the Israeli parliament's vote.

Rubio, one of a string of top US officials to visit Israel in recent days, had warned before his arrival that the annexation moves were “threatening” to the fragile ceasefire in Gaza.

But he expressed confidence in the truce after meeting with Netanyahu on Thursday.