(AFP) – US President Donald Trump vowed Thursday to stop Israel from annexing the West Bank as he presses to end the Gaza war, ahead of a high-stakes visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu will address the United Nations on Friday and later meet Trump in Washington as Israeli ministers muse of annexing the West Bank in response to recognition of a Palestinian state by France, Britain, and several other Western powers.
But Trump, who has offered crucial support to Netanyahu as Israel comes under mounting global pressure, made clear he would not back annexation, which far-right Israelis see as a way to kill any real prospect of an independent Palestine. “I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “No, I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen.”
Trump voiced optimism about ending nearly two years of devastating war, echoing the confidence expressed a day earlier on the sidelines of the United Nations by his roving envoy, Steve Witkoff. “We’re getting pretty close to having a deal on Gaza and maybe even peace,” said Trump, who also spoke to Netanyahu by telephone on Thursday. Trump met Tuesday at the United Nations with the leaders of key Arab and Muslim nations who warned him of consequences if Israel moved ahead. “I think the president of the US understands very well the risks and dangers of annexation in the West Bank,” Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told reporters.
Saudi Arabia has mulled recognition of Israel in what would be a massive symbolic step, as the kingdom is home to Islam’s two holiest sites. The United Arab Emirates, whose 2020 normalization with Israel is seen as a top achievement by both Netanyahu and Trump, has publicly warned Israel against annexation. Netanyahu nonetheless has defied Trump in recent months with attacks in Iran, Qatar, and Syria amid US diplomacy.
**Abbas says no role for Hamas**
Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas in his own address to the United Nations on Thursday sought to allay concerns as he called for all countries to recognize Palestinian statehood. The veteran 89-year-old president of the Palestinian Authority was forced to address the General Assembly by video after the United States took the unusual step of denying him a visa to come to New York.
Abbas made clear he was different from Hamas, which took control of Gaza in 2007. “Hamas will not have a role to play in governance. Hamas and other factions will have to hand over their weapons to the Palestinian National Authority,” Abbas said in a speech that received loud applause by delegates watching the video. He distanced himself from the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023 — the deadliest day ever for Israel, in which 1,219 people died, mostly civilians — as well as frequent accusations by Israel’s supporters that the Palestinians are denying the rights of Jews.
“Despite all that our people have suffered, we reject what Hamas carried out on October 7 — actions that targeted Israeli civilians and took them hostage — because these actions do not represent the Palestinian people, nor do they represent their just struggle for freedom and independence,” Abbas said. “We reject confusing the solidarity with the Palestinian cause and the issue of antisemitism, which is something that we reject based on our values and principles,” he said.
Abbas nonetheless called the nearly two-year Israeli assault in Gaza “one of the most horrific chapters of humanitarian tragedy of the 20th and 21st century” — by implication putting it alongside the Holocaust against the Jews by Nazi Germany during World War II. Israel’s offensive has killed more than 65,500 Palestinians, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.
– Shaun Tandon with Danny Kemp in Washington
© 2024 AFP
