US President Donald Trump has declared that he will not allow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Speaking to reporters ahead of Netanyahu’s address to the UN General Assembly on Friday, Trump said, “I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank… It’s not going to happen.”
Trump, who is scheduled to meet Netanyahu on Monday, also indicated that a ceasefire over the Gaza conflict was “pretty close.”
Israel faces mounting international pressure to end both its military campaign in Gaza and its occupation of the West Bank. Several Western countries, including the UK and Germany, have warned Israel against annexation, while UN Secretary-General António Guterres described it as “morally, legally and politically intolerable.”
Within Netanyahu’s governing coalition, far-right ultranationalists continue to push for full annexation of the West Bank as a means of preventing the creation of a Palestinian state.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the UN via video link on Friday, calling for global cooperation to implement a French-proposed peace plan. Barred from traveling to New York due to US restrictions, Abbas thanked countries that have recently recognized Palestinian statehood, including Canada, Australia, the UK, France, and others.
Abbas emphasized that Hamas would not participate in governance and called for a Palestinian state to assume “full responsibilities” for Gaza following an Israeli withdrawal, linking it with the West Bank.
Tensions in the region remain high. Israel closed the sole crossing between the West Bank and Jordan after two Israeli soldiers were killed near the border. In Gaza, more than 80 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed by Israeli fire on Wednesday, according to local hospitals. The Israeli military launched its Gaza campaign following a Hamas attack on southern Israel on 7 October, which left around 1,200 dead and 251 taken hostage.
Humanitarian conditions in Gaza are dire. The UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification reported in August that over 500,000 people were facing “catastrophic” conditions. The UN commission of inquiry on Gaza has accused Israel of committing genocide, a charge Israel’s foreign ministry rejected as “distorted and false.”
International pressure on Israel is mounting. The European Commission proposed trade restrictions and sanctions on extremist ministers, while Microsoft suspended services to an Israeli defense unit over its alleged use in mass surveillance in Gaza.
Despite growing criticism, Netanyahu has emphasized Israel’s need for increased self-sufficiency.