Donald Trump has said he will not allow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The US president told White House reporters ahead of Netanyahu's address to the UN General Assembly on Friday: I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank... It's not going to happen.
Trump, who will meet Netanyahu on Monday, also said a ceasefire deal over the war in Gaza was pretty close.
Israel is facing increasing global pressure to end the conflict and occupation of the West Bank, as a wave of Western states formally recognise an independent Palestinian state. Far-right Israelis view annexation as a means of preventing a Palestinian state being created.
Ultranationalists in Netanyahu's governing coalition have repeated calls for Israel to annex the West Bank - part of the Palestinian territories - outright. The UK and Germany say they have warned Israel against annexation, while UN Secretary General António Guterres said such a move would be morally, legally and politically intolerable.
On Wednesday morning, Israel closed the only crossing between the Israeli-occupied West Bank and neighbouring Jordan, preventing more than two million Palestinians from accessing the outside world. In Gaza, more than 80 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed by Israeli fire on Wednesday, local hospitals said.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
Israel is under increasing pressure to end the war and occupation. In addition to more countries recognising a Palestinian state, the European Commission has unveiled plans to restrict trade with Israel and impose sanctions on extremist ministers in its government, which would be the EU's toughest response to the war in Gaza.
This week, Microsoft cut off some services to a unit of Israel's Ministry of Defence after an investigation found that its technology had been used to conduct mass surveillance on people in Gaza.
The US president told White House reporters ahead of Netanyahu's address to the UN General Assembly on Friday: I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank... It's not going to happen.
Trump, who will meet Netanyahu on Monday, also said a ceasefire deal over the war in Gaza was pretty close.
Israel is facing increasing global pressure to end the conflict and occupation of the West Bank, as a wave of Western states formally recognise an independent Palestinian state. Far-right Israelis view annexation as a means of preventing a Palestinian state being created.
Ultranationalists in Netanyahu's governing coalition have repeated calls for Israel to annex the West Bank - part of the Palestinian territories - outright. The UK and Germany say they have warned Israel against annexation, while UN Secretary General António Guterres said such a move would be morally, legally and politically intolerable.
On Wednesday morning, Israel closed the only crossing between the Israeli-occupied West Bank and neighbouring Jordan, preventing more than two million Palestinians from accessing the outside world. In Gaza, more than 80 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed by Israeli fire on Wednesday, local hospitals said.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
Israel is under increasing pressure to end the war and occupation. In addition to more countries recognising a Palestinian state, the European Commission has unveiled plans to restrict trade with Israel and impose sanctions on extremist ministers in its government, which would be the EU's toughest response to the war in Gaza.
This week, Microsoft cut off some services to a unit of Israel's Ministry of Defence after an investigation found that its technology had been used to conduct mass surveillance on people in Gaza.
