Germany, France criticize Israel over West Bank annexation plans

Germany and France have called on Zionist regime to halt its plans to annex large swathes of the occupied West Bank which Palestinians consider as part of their future independent state.

According to Press TV, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian, urged the Tel Aviv regime to renounce its controversial plan.

After meeting with Maas in Berlin, Le Drian said, "Our goal is still to prevent any annexation in violation of international law in the first place."

The French foreign minister stressed that the annexation would increase "instability in West Asia".

Maas said Israel's annexation plans were "of great concern" to him and Le Drian. The issue, he said, should be brought to the forefront once more. 

The pair announced intensive talks between EU partners and neighboring countries such as Jordan.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing a number of criminal indictments, has repeatedly said that he would commence cabinet-level discussions for annexing more areas in the West Bank on July 1, in accordance with US President Donald Trump's so-called deal of the century. 

The American president officially unveiled his much-condemned West Asia plan in January at the White House with Netanyahu on his side, while Palestinian representatives were not invited.

Back in late 2017, Trump enraged Palestinians by recognizing the whole al-Quds, both its eastern and western parts, as Israel’s “undivided capital,” a highly-provocative move he took in the face of historic Palestinian demands that the city’s eastern part serve as the capital of their future state.

The proposal, which has already been categorically rejected and condemned by Palestinians, largely gives in to Israel’s demands while creating a Palestinian state with limited control over its own security and borders.

It enshrines the occupied al-Quds as Israel’s “capital” and allows the regime to annex settlements in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley, which Israel occupied in 1967.

ME