UN Mideast Envoy Urges Israel To Abandon Threat To Annex Occupied West Bank

The UN Middle East envoy Wednesday called on Israel to abandon its threat to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, saying such a plan would be a serious violation of international law and "close the door to a renewal of negotiations".

UNITED NATIONS, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th May, 2020 ):The UN Middle East envoy Wednesday called on Israel to abandon its threat to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, saying such a plan would be a serious violation of international law and "close the door to a renewal of negotiations".

"The continuing threat of annexation by Israel of parts of the West Bank would constitute a most serious violation of international law, deal a devastating blow to the two-state solution, close the door to a renewal of negotiations," Nickolay Mladenov, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, told the Security Council, while responding to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statement that cabinet discussions would begin on July 1 on his plan to extend Israeli sovereignty to the territory Palestinians want for their own state.

"Israel must abandon its threat of annexation. And the Palestinian leadership to re-engage with all members of the quartet," he said, referring to the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations.

Mladenov told the 15-member Council that all sides must do their part in the coming weeks and months to preserve the prospect of a two-state solution, in line with internationally agreed parameters, international law and UN resolutions.

"These efforts must begin immediately. There is no time to lose," Mladenov said.

"The fate of the Palestinian and Israeli people must not be determined by destructive unilateral action that cements division and may put peace beyond reach in our lifetime." He addressed the Council meeting via video-teleconference - just hours after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas reportedly announced that he was ending "all agreements" with Israel and the United States in response to Israeli plans to annex parts of the West Bank.

His remarks also came three days after a new coalition government was sworn into office in Israel, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to news reports, determined to declare Israeli sovereignty over Jewish settlements in the occupied territory.

Such a move would dovetail with US President Donald Trump's "Peace to Prosperity" blueprint for the region, which he unveiled in January alongside Netanyahu - and which the Palestinians have rejected as a denial of their rights.

The Palestinian reaction to annexation is "a desperate cry for help (and) a call for immediate action" from a generation of Palestinian leaders who have been preparing for full statehood since the Oslo Accords signed in Washington, in 1993.

"The Palestinian leadership is not threatening. It is calling for urgent action to preserve the prospect of peace", said the special coordinator, who plans to meet Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Thursday.

He added: "Whatever the future young Palestinians and Israelis decide to build, we have an obligation to prevent violence and protect the chance for peace." He urged the Council to join Secretary-General Antnio Guterres in his call against unilateral action, noting that recent opinion polls indicated that the Israeli public was split on the annexation question.

"Israel must abandon threats of annexation", he added, "and the Palestinian leadership must re-engage with all members of the Quartet. Everybody must do their part.""For the moment, the situation on the ground remains dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with Palestinian and Israeli authorities despite growing political tensions continuing to coordinate their efforts to limit the spread of the deadly virus while also carefully reopening economic life," Mladenov said.

However, while Palestinians were experiencing the same shock and uncertainty as the rest of the globe, their government the Palestinian Authority - could not respond with the same agency as an independent and sovereign country, he noted.