Israeli annexation of West Bank serious violation of intl. law: Jordan

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi says Israel's controversial plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank constitute a major violation of international law and cannot go unanswered.

Addressing a joint press briefing along with his German counterpart Heiko Maas in the Jordanian capital of Amman, Safadi said the Israeli plan would torpedo any opportunity for peace in the region, the Palestinian Information Center reported on Thursday.   

“We are working with our partners and brothers in order to prevent Israel from carrying out its annexation plan because implementing it means killing any opportunity towards peace,” the top Jordanian diplomat said.

For his part, Maas expressed Berlin’s concern over Israel’s intent to annex parts of the occupied Palestinian territories.

He said the European Union rejects any unilateral plans which may pose a serious threat to the region.

The comments come after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu received the approval of his newly-installed coalition regime to put his annexation plan to vote in the Israeli cabinet or parliament as soon as July 1.

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Israeli officials, however, said on Wednesday that Netanyahu had decided to initially annex three settlement blocs in the occupied West Bank and delay the annexation of the Jordan Valley and other Palestinian areas.

The three settlement blocs are home to almost 80 percent of the settler population in the occupied West Bank. 

Jordan is the only Arab state apart from Egypt to have diplomatic relations with Israel. Even though Amman and Tel Aviv signed a peace treaty in 1994, bilateral ties have been tense in recent years.

Last month, Jordanian Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz said his country would review its relationship with Israel in case the Tel Aviv regime proceeded with its annexation plan.

King Abduallah II has said the annexation would mean a collapse of the Palestinian Authority.

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United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov has also said the Israeli regime's annexation threats constitute a major violation of international law.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has already declared the end of all agreements signed with Israel and the United States, after the new Israeli coalition cabinet announced that it would annex parts of the West Bank.

The plan, which enjoys the full support of the US government, has faced growing international criticism because Israel intends to annex the lands that were occupied after the 1967 war with Arabs.

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The international community views the entire West Bank and the eastern part of the occupied city of Jerusalem al-Quds as home to an independent Palestinian state in future.

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