Israel's annexation plans condemned by Arab leaders and UN experts

A group of almost 50 UN human rights specialists says the move will create 'a Palestinian Bantustan'

Palestinian protesters wave flags as Israeli troops take position during a protest against Jewish settlements in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah. Reuters

Now that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has secured a new term in office, there’s little to prevent him from annexing large parts of the West Bank as early as this summer. AP

An Israeli soldier stands guard during a tour made by Israeli parliament members in the Jordan Valley near the Jewish settlement of Maale Efrayim. Reuters

Israeli soldiers take position as Palestinian demonstrators gather during a protest against expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. AP

King Abdullah (r) of Transjordan on May 13, 1948 in Amman with Abed Al Rahman Azzam, the secretary general of the Arab League and Abd Al Elah Ibn Ali, the Prince Regent of Iraq, the day before the beginning of the first Arab-Israeli War. AFP

Palestinians surrender to Israeli soldiers in June 1967 in the occupied territory of the West Bank after Israel launched a pre-emptive attack on Egypt and Syria and seized the Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights in Syria as well as the West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem. AFP

A Palestinian child plays in a refugee camp in Jordan on June 23, 1967. AFP

PLO chairman Yasser Arafat delivers a speech to the Palestine National Council meeting to make the historic proclamation of a Palestinian state in the Israeli-occupied territories and to recognize Israel in the Palace of Nations conference hall on November 12, 1988, in Algiers. AFP

US President Bill Clinton stands between PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzahk Rabin as they shake hands for the first time on September 13, 1993 at the White House. AFP

Hussein Ibn Talal, King of Jordan and Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin shake hands after they exchanged the documents of the Peace Treaty at Beit Gabriel conference centre on November 10, 1994 on the southern shore of the Sea of Galilee. AFP

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks during the Palestinian leadership meeting and threatened to end security coordination with Israel and the United States, saying Israeli annexation would ruin chances for peace. AFP

Houses in the Israeli settlement of settlement of Kedumim are seen in the foreground as part of the Palestinian city of Nablus is seen in the background (far left) in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Reuters

Israel's controversial concrete barrier (C) separating the Jewish settlement of Neve Yaakov (foreground) in the northern part of east Jerusalem and the Palestinian area of al-Ram (background) in the occupied West Bank. AFP

An Israeli activist holds a banner during a protest against the US peace plan for the Middle East, in front of the US ambassador's residence in Jerusalem, on May 15, 2020, as Palestinians commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the 1948 Nakba or "catastrophe". AFP

A Palestinian shepherd tends to his camels on arid land considered to be in "Area C" (under Israeli security and administrative control), southeast of Yatta town in the southern West Bank district of Hebron. AFP

A general view of the Israeli settlement of Elon Moreh, as seen from the Palestinian village of Azmout near the West Bank City of Nablus. EPA

The West Bank Jewish settlement of Maale Michmash. AP

Israel’s plan to annex nearly a third of the West Bank amounts to a "vision of a 21st Century apartheid" and will only intensify human rights violations against Palestinians, UN experts said on Tuesday.

The group of almost 50 UN human rights specialists warned that the move would be a “serious violation” of international law and reinforce an "already unjust reality".

"What would be left of the West Bank would be a Palestinian Bantustan, islands of disconnected land completely surrounded by Israel and with no territorial connection to the outside world,” the experts said.

Israeli Prime Minister Bejamin Netanyahu aims to begin a process of applying Israeli sovereignty to Jewish settlements in the Jordan Valley and West Bank from July 1.

The US effectively gave its blessing for the move last year in President Trump's Middle East peace plan, which proposes to leave Palestine with the remaining 70 per cent of the West Bank, along with Gaza and part of East Jerusalem as its capital.

The Palestinians, who claim these lands in their entirety, have rejected the terms.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and built dozens of settlements, which are widely considered to be illegal by the international community.

On Tuesday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said annexation of parts of the West Bank would “amount to a breach of international law” and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Wednesday reiterated his government's view that such a move would be illegal.

Arab leaders also widely condemned Israel’s plans.

Speaking to US senators by video conference on Tuesday, the king of Jordan described the annexation plans as “unacceptable” and a risk to stability in the Middle East.

Peace can only come with the creation of an "independent, sovereign and viable Palestinian state" with East Jerusalem as its capital King Abdullah told US lawmakers.

“Any unilateral Israeli measure to annex lands in the West Bank is unacceptable and undermines the prospects of achieving peace and stability in the region," the royal palace said.

Jordan, which shares a border with Israel, is one of just two Arab states to sign a peace treaty with Israel.

Several Gulf nations also reinforced their opposition to annexation on Tuesday.

Kuwait’s permanent delegate to the UN Jamal Al Ghunaim said it would mark a “new chapter” in illegal settlements on Arab lands and highlighted the “mounting obligation” on the international community to intervene and prevent further abuses.

Saudi Arabia’s council of ministers affirmed the kingdom’s absolute support for the Palestinian people and called Israel’s annexation plans a flagrant violation of the UN Charter and international law.

In mid-May, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas ended security cooperation with Israel, saying the annexation plans showed Israel is no longer honouring previous agreements.

Mr Abbas visited Ramallah on Tuesday after Palestinian authorities accused Israel of an incursion into the West Bank city.

Israeli forces "searched three houses inside Ramallah, but did not make any arrests," Ghassan Nimr, spokesman for the Palestinian interior ministry, said.

Sources in Palestine’s security services say they have been destroying secret files in case of Israeli raids on their offices if the annexation goes ahead.

During the second Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule in the early 2000s, Israeli security forces repeatedly raided the offices of Palestinian security services and removed confidential documents.

Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh recently warned of a "hot summer" if annexation goes ahead. During the visit to Ramallah he said the plan represents “an existential threat to the Palestinian people.”