News Desk
TEL AVIV: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly intends to place West Bank annexation back on his government’s agenda, awaiting a more favorable US stance when President-elect Donald Trump assumes office. Israeli public broadcaster KAN disclosed that Netanyahu, in private discussions, suggested reviving plans to annex portions of the occupied West Bank, a move that could further escalate tensions amid ongoing regional conflict.
This revived annexation push aligns with recent statements by Israel’s far-right Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who has ordered groundwork for infrastructure to impose Israeli “sovereignty” over parts of the West Bank. Smotrich referenced plans initiated under Trump’s prior administration in 2020, which aimed to annex about 30% of the West Bank under a US-backed “Middle East peace plan.”
The annexation rhetoric is set against a backdrop of heightened violence and widespread condemnation. Since the October 2023 escalation in Gaza, where over 43,600 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have lost their lives, at least 780 more Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank amid intensifying Israeli military operations. Health Ministry reports indicate nearly 6,300 Palestinian injuries in the territory since the beginning of the escalation.
