White House official says president sees stability in the Palestinian territory as in line with US \u2018goal to achieve peace in the region\u2019.<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump opposes Israel\u2019s annexation of the occupied West Bank, a United States official has said, as global criticism of the move grows.<\/p>\n
\u201cA stable West Bank keeps Israel secure, and is in line with this administration\u2019s goal to achieve peace in the region,\u201d the official said on Monday.<\/p>\n
The comment from the Trump administration came a day after Israel\u2019s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defence Minister Israel Katz announced new measures extending Israeli control over the occupied Palestinian territory.<\/p>\n
The measures also make it easier for Israelis to acquire land for new settlements, which are illegal under international law.<\/p>\n
Eight Muslim-majority countries denounced Israel\u2019s move in a statement on Monday, saying that the \u201cillegal Israeli decisions and measures\u201d are \u201caimed at imposing unlawful Israeli sovereignty\u201d over Palestinian territory.<\/p>\n
Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and the United Arab Emirates said the measures were an attempt at \u201centrenching settlement activity, and enforcing a new legal and administrative reality in the occupied West Bank, thereby accelerating attempts at its illegal annexation and the displacement of the Palestinian people\u201d.<\/p>\n
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the United Kingdom and Spain also joined the rising chorus of condemnation, with the UN chief saying Israel\u2019s actions were \u201cdestabilising\u201d and corrosive to the prospects for a two-state solution, according to his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric.<\/p>\n
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Al Jazeera\u2019s Gabriel Elizondo asked Dujarric in a news conference at the UN headquarters in New York if Guterres considered Israel\u2019s measures a \u201cde facto annexation\u201d of the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese decisions are not moving us in the right direction. They are driving us further and further away from a two-state solution and from the ability of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian people to control their own destiny,\u201d Dujarric said.<\/p>\n
Elizondo also asked the spokesman what the UN chief could do to deter Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe secretary-general will continue to advocate for the respect of international law. He\u2019ll continue to push for a two-state solution. But he can\u2019t do it alone. We want others to do so as well,\u201d Dujarric said.<\/p>\n
The UK government called on Israel to reverse its decision in a statement on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe UK strongly condemns the Israeli Security Cabinet\u2019s decision yesterday to expand Israeli control over the West Bank,\u201d the government said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny unilateral attempt to alter the geographic or demographic makeup of Palestine is wholly unacceptable and would be inconsistent with international law. We call on Israel to reverse these decisions immediately,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n
The controversial Israeli measures include transferring authority over building permits in Hebron, the occupied West Bank\u2019s largest city, from the Palestinian Authority to Israel.<\/p>\n
The measures also strengthen Israeli control over two major religious sites in the southern part of the occupied West Bank: Rachel\u2019s Tomb near Bethlehem and the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron.<\/p>\n
Israeli minister Smotrich said on Sunday that the changes were aimed at \u201cdeepening our roots in all regions of the Land of Israel and burying the idea of a Palestinian state\u201d.<\/p>\n
In a statement late on Monday, Spain\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Israel\u2019s decision, saying it is \u201ccontrary to international law\u201d and threatens to trigger more violence in Gaza.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese measures and any attempt at annexation are unacceptable and jeopardise current efforts to implement the Peace Plan and the ceasefire, increasing the risk of triggering a new wave of violence,\u201d the Foreign Ministry said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Spanish Government urges the Israeli Government to comply with its obligations as an occupying power under the Fourth Geneva Convention, and to put an end to its expansionist offensive and the impunity that protects the settlers,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
The European Union also denounced the move earlier in the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe European Union condemns recent decisions by Israel\u2019s security cabinet to expand Israeli control in the West Bank. This move is another step in the wrong direction,\u201d EU spokesman Anouar el Anouni told reporters.<\/p>\n
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