(Washington) – US President Trump issued a stern warning to Israel not to annex the West Bank, threatening to lose all US support.
Trump made this clear in a telephone interview with Time magazine on October 15. In the interview, published Thursday (October 23), he stated that he did not believe Israel would take any action in the West Bank.
“That (annexation) will not happen because I have made promises to the Arab nations. If that happens, Israel will lose all support from the United States.”
The Israeli parliament gave preliminary approval on Wednesday (October 22) to a bill extending Israeli sovereignty to all West Bank settlements and another bill annexing a major settlement, paving the way for annexation.
When asked by the media at the White House on Thursday whether he was concerned about the passage of the bills, Trump said, “Don’t worry about the West Bank. Israel will not take any action in the West Bank.”
Further reading
Arab and Muslim countries have warned that annexation of the West Bank is an uncrossable red line. More than a dozen countries, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Turkey, issued a joint statement on Thursday condemning the Israeli Knesset's passage of two bills.
US Secretary of State Rubio has warned that the Knesset's move forward with plans to annex the West Bank could jeopardize the Gaza peace agreement.
Violence in the West Bank has surged since the outbreak of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah stated that since October 2023, Israeli forces and settlers have killed nearly 1,000 Palestinians, including militants and civilians. Official Israeli data shows that during the same period, at least 43 Israelis, including security personnel, have died in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations.
Separately, according to the New York Times, US Vice President Cyril Vance, during a visit to Israel on Thursday, stated that the disarmament of Hamas will be led by an international security force, which has yet to be formed.
Vance said that disarming Hamas "will take some time and will depend largely on the composition of the international force." He reiterated that there would be no US ground troops in Gaza, and that US personnel would monitor and mediate the peace process.
Hamas' disarmament is one of the most thorny issues in achieving lasting peace in Gaza. Trump's 20-point peace plan for Gaza does not clearly outline how to disarm Hamas, nor does it set a specific timetable.
The New York Times noted that some countries are hesitant to send troops because the specific mission of the international force remains unclear, and they are also concerned about the possibility of being drawn into direct conflict with Hamas.
