Wed 24 June 2020:
More than 1,000 parliamentarians from 25 countries urge leaders to save two-state solution, global order
BRUSSELS (AA) – More than 1,000 European lawmakers condemned Israel’s plan to annex West Bank in a joint letter published on Tuesday night.
The parliamentarians representing 25 European countries urged European leaders to prevent the annexation and save the prospects of a two-state solution.
They also show strong support for the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell’s previous statement warning that “annexation could not pass unchallenged.”
“We, parliamentarians across Europe committed to a rules-based global order, share serious concerns about President Trump’s plan for Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the imminent prospect of Israeli annexation of West Bank territory,” the lawmakers wrote.
They also warned that the US president’s plan “promotes effectively permanent Israeli control over a fragmented Palestinian territory, leaving Palestinians with no sovereignty and giving a green light to Israel to unilaterally annex significant parts of the West Bank.”
The parliamentarians insisted that the new Israeli government’s annexation plan would be “fatal to the prospects of Israeli-Palestinian peace” and carry a destabilizing potential for the region and the international order as well.
In total, 1,080 members of national assemblies and the European Parliament from Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK signed the letter.
Encouraged by Trump’s so-called “Deal of the Century,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month announced that his government would formally annex the Jordan Valley and all settlement blocs in the West Bank.
The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is seen as occupied territory under international law, thus making all Jewish settlements there — as well as the planned annexation — illegal.
Palestinian officials have threatened to abolish bilateral agreements with Israel if it goes ahead with the annexation, which will further undermine the two-state solution.
Like Turkey and much of the international community, the EU does not recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the territories it has occupied since 1967.
By Agnes Szucs / Anadolu Agency
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