LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Tuesday that Israeli plans to annex parts of the West Bank would “amount to a breach of international law.”
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Asked in the House of Commons about possible sanctions on Israel over the West Bank settlements, Johnson said: “I believe that what is proposed by Israel would amount to a breach of international law. We have strongly objected. We believe profoundly in a two-state solution and we will continue to make that case.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to annex Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley, a move that could scuttle any hopes of a viable Palestinian state.
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war and has built dozens of settlements that are home to over 400,000 Israelis in the decades since. The Palestinians seek the territory as the heartland of a future independent state. Most of the international community considers Israel’s West Bank settlements illegal under international law.
President Donald Trump’s Middle East plan that was rolled out earlier this year, which overwhelmingly favors Israel and was rejected by the Palestinians, has given Israel a go-ahead for annexing Jewish settlements.
Most of the international community opposes such a move.
Also on Tuesday, Jordan’s king told U.S. lawmakers that the Israeli annexation plans are “unacceptable” and would undermine regional stability.
King Abdullah II spoke with U.S. senators and emphasized the kingdom’s commitment to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
“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 court said in a statement.
The TRUE breach of international law is Great Britain’s occupation of Ireland, and Boris Johnson should look in the mirror before he makes accusations.
Hey, Boris, when will you be giving Northern Ireland back to the Irish.
Johnson has amnesia, as he seems to forget the colonial past of the British Empire. In fact, the Brits used to brag that “the sun will never set on the British Empire”. Prior to the War of Independence, and even during that war in 1948, the Brits armed the Arab Legion in Jordan, and were far from being “neutral”. Incidentally, I don’t recall the Brits protesting about “annexation”, when North Vietnam invaded South Vietnam in 1975, and absorbed that country in its entirety. Also, regarding its own past, pertaining to military adventures, the Brits in 1982 sent a large armada to fight the government of Argentina, over the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic, which it claimed. During the Falkland Islands War, in 1982, the Brits had one of their submarines torpedo, and sink an Argentinian naval ship, the Belgrano, resulting in the loss of life of over 300 Argentinian sailors. It was the first time since 1945, that a torpedo from a submarine, was used to sink a naval ship.
What international law this was area won in war from an occupying nation Jordan Who took This land in 1948 from isreal thru war