Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced intentions to annex parts of the occupied West Bank if he wins re-election next week.
Netanyahu told reporters at a press conference that he would apply “Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea” if re-elected and able to form a coalition.
He said he expected US President Donald Trump to present his Middle East “peace plan” just days after Israelis vote next Tuesday, September 17, and that in co-ordination with the US, he would also look to apply sovereignty over all Israeli illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Such a move would be popular with right-wing parties, mostly supported by illegal settlers and Jewish fanatics, which he would have to depend upon to form a coalition but fiercely opposed by Palestinians.
The Jordan Valley makes up the eastern half of the occupied West Bank and lies on low ground in the valley created by the Jordan river.
The occupation state of Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 but stopped short of annexation.
The occupation state occupied the West Bank, along with East Jerusalem, Gaza and the Syrian Golan Heights, in 1967. It effectively annexed East Jerusalem in 1980, and the Golan Heights in 1981, although neither move was accepted internationally for decades.
The Trump administration has since recognised both steps, overturning previous US policy.
The occupation state keeps stealing West Bank lands to build new outposts and expand existed illegal settlements, which have over 600,000 European illegal settlers.
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