UN chief calls on Israel to drop West Bank annexation plans
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called on the Israeli regime to drop plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, saying the move would constitute a “most serious violation of international law.”
According to Press TV, Guterres made the remarks in a report to the UN Security Council on Tuesday and warned that the Israeli annexation plans would be "devastating" for hopes of fresh negotiations and a so-called two-state solution.
"I call upon Israel to abandon its annexation plans," the UN chief said in the report, adding that such a move would "threaten efforts to advance regional peace."
"If implemented, this would constitute a most serious violation of international law, including the Charter of the United Nations," Guterres underlined. "This would be calamitous for Palestinians, Israelis and the region.”
The report comes ahead of the Security Council’s twice-yearly meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is scheduled on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, an estimated one thousand protesters in Tel Aviv slammed the regime’s annexation plans and expressed concern that the scheme could lead to more violence.
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 annexation scheme, 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.
In response to Trump’s highly-provocative scheme and Israel’s annexation plans, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared the end of all agreements signed with Tel Aviv and Washington on May 19.
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