On Monday, Palestine warned that Israel’s plan to annex the occupied West Bank to its sovereignty would close the doors to stability and security in the region and the world, calling on the United States to dissuade Tel Aviv from proceeding with its plan.

The statement was made by the spokesperson for the Palestinian presidency, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, as reported by the official news agency WAFA.

Abu Rudeineh said, “There is no legitimacy for any annexation process, nor for settlement activities, all of which are condemned and rejected, and will close all doors to achieving security and stability in the region and the world.”

He considered attempts to annex the West Bank and impose Israeli sovereignty over it as “a blatant violation of international laws and United Nations resolutions, especially Security Council Resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973), and 2334 (2016), which nullify any attempts to legitimize Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land.”

He added that the Israeli government seeks through its practices to “undermine efforts to stop the war on our people in the Gaza Strip and the attacks in the West Bank, and to end any chance of achieving the two-state solution, which the world agrees upon and for which the New York Peace Conference (late July) was held, confirming Israel’s isolation and its unilateral measures.”

The Palestinian presidency spokesperson called on the international community “to take practical and serious steps to prevent Israel from implementing its plans, to recognize the State of Palestine, and to implement UN resolutions that support our people’s legitimate right to self-determination and to establish their independent state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

He reaffirmed that “Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian land, including East Jerusalem, and that the existence of occupation and colonial settlements is illegal and must end according to international law, relevant UN resolutions, and the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice.”

He urged the US administration “not to encourage the occupation to continue these dangerous and irresponsible actions.”

On Sunday evening, the Hebrew site Walla (exclusive), quoting unnamed sources, reported that Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar informed his US counterpart Marco Rubio in talks held on Wednesday that Tel Aviv is preparing to declare its sovereignty over the West Bank in the coming months.

Meanwhile, the Hebrew newspaper Haaretz reported that Sa’ar asked ministers in the small ministerial cabinet “the security cabinet” on Sunday evening to discuss several issues including “the Israeli Defense Forces’ preparations for an operation to control Gaza City, Israel’s response to various countries’ intentions to recognize a Palestinian state in September, ministers’ plans to push for annexation of the West Bank, impose sanctions on the Palestinian Authority, and evacuate the Palestinian village of Khan al-Ahmar (near Jerusalem) as possible responses.”

This comes ahead of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York this September, where countries including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Finland, Luxembourg, Portugal, and San Marino are expected to push for recognition of the State of Palestine, alongside other European countries that have previously declared similar positions such as the UK, France, Malta, and Norway.

Alongside the genocide war on Gaza, the Israeli army and settlers have escalated their attacks in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, resulting in the martyrdom of at least 1,016 Palestinians, injuries to about 7,000 others, and the arrest of more than 18,500, according to Palestinian data.

With US support, Israel has committed genocide since October 7, 2023, resulting in 63,557 Palestinian deaths, 160,660 injuries, mostly children and women, over 9,000 missing persons, hundreds of thousands displaced, and famine killing 348 Palestinians including 127 children.