Saudi Arabia Sends Stroπg Warπing To Israel Against ‘Extremist’ Plans To Take Over Occupied West Bank In Palestine
The Government of Saudi Arabia has warned Israel against plans to annex the occupied West Bank in Palestine.
The West Bank, so called due to its location relative to the Jordan River, is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that comprise the State of Palestine.
It is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the Levant region of West Asia and it is bordered by Jordan and the Dead Sea to on the east and by Israel (via the Green Line) to the south, west, and north.
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich had earlier ordered preparations for the annexation of the occupied West Bank ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump taking office in January 2025.
This was stated in a statement issued on Monday where the minister voiced his hope that the new administration in Washington will recognise Israel’s push for “sovereignty” over the occupied territory.
“2025: the year of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich wrote on X.
“I have directed the start of professional work to prepare the necessary infrastructure to apply Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria,” he added.
This disclosure by Smotrich was viewed by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an impediment towards ongoing negotiations to resolve the war in the Middle East.
The ministry in a statement issued on Wednesday, expressed a “strong warning of the seriousness of the extremist statements by an Israeli official regarding the annexation of the occupied West Bank, and the construction and expansion of settlements.”
The statement added: “The Kingdom stresses that these statements undermine peace efforts, including the two-state solution, encourage wars, produce more extremism, and increase the threat to the security and stability of the region.
“The Kingdom stresses that these statements are a flagrant violation of international laws and the relevant United Nations resolutions and perpetuate the occupation and the expansion of land seizure by force, which constitutes a dangerous precedent.
“The Kingdom also emphasizes that the consequences of continued international failure extend beyond this crisis, to impact the legitimacy and credibility of the rules of the international system and threaten its continuity.
