Following an unusual meeting via video circles Thursday, Arab foreign ministers considered that Israel would commit a "new war crime" against the Palestinian people if it annexed parts of the West Bank.
The Ministers emphasized that "the Israeli occupation government’s implementation of its plans to annex any part of the Palestinian territory occupied in 1967, including the Jordan Valley, the northern Dead Sea and the lands on which the Israeli settlements and their environs are represented, is a new war crime added to the Israeli record full of brutal crimes against the Palestinian people and violations Scandalous to the Charter and resolutions of the United Nations and international law. "
The ministers demanded "the American administration to abide by the United Nations Charter and its resolutions related to the conflict in the Middle East region, and the principles and provisions of international law, and to refrain from supporting the plans and maps of the Israeli occupation government that are hatched under the cover of the so-called American-Israeli deal of the century, and aims to annex occupied Palestinian lands and seize them in the village And threatens to destroy the foundations and opportunities for peace in the region. "
In a speech to the ministers, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki had warned of "an endless religious war" if Israel annexed parts of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Al-Maliki said that the annexation step "if completed will transform the conflict from political to religious, will not end, and will keep this conflict going on forever, because the Palestinian will not accept it and will not accept anything less than the 1967 borders to establish its state and East Jerusalem as its capital."
Al-Maliki added that the Israeli move, if completed, would "end the two-state solution, and put Al-Aqsa Mosque (...) under Israeli control."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his political opponent, Benny Gantz, signed an agreement last week stipulating the formation of a unity government that could accelerate the prime minister´s plans to annex parts of the West Bank in the coming months.
The agreement provides for the implementation of any measures related to the American plan that supports the annexation of the strategic Jordan Valley area and Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank "in full agreement with the United States."
The agreement also stated that Netanyahu, with Gantz´s approval, should discuss the annexation plan in the cabinet and parliament as of July 1.
On Monday, the United States announced its willingness to recognize the annexation of Israel by parts of the West Bank, but nevertheless asked the new unity government to negotiate with the Palestinians.
