Annex West Bank and lose US backing, Trump warns Israel

ARAB STATES, PALESTINIANS SLAM ISRAEL'S WEST BANK ANNEXATION MOVE

- BY STEPHEN N.R.

A Palestinian farmer carries a bag of olives after his harvest was disrupted by Israeli settlers and halted by Israeli forces in Sa'ir village, near the Israeli occupied West Bank city of Hebron, yesterday.

(AFP)

US President Donald Trump said he would not allow Israel to annex the West Bank, warning that the country would lose US support if it did.

"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," Trump told Time magazine in an interview published yesterday.

Israeli lawmakers on Wednesday voted in favour of advancing two bills on annexing the occupied West Bank. The measure, which required only a simple majority, passed 25-24, but is unlikely to clear multiple rounds of voting or secure a majority in the 120-seat Knesset.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who opposes the move, also has tools that can delay or block it.

Earlier yesterday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the government had not decided to advance the annexation bills "at this stage," to safeguard the success of Trump's multistage Gaza plan.

Settlement construction has surged since 2022, when Netanyahu's ultranationalist coalition came to power.