Arab League slams West Bank annexation plans as ‘war crime’
The pan-Arab organization met to discuss Israeli plans for annexing parts of the territory the Palestinians envision for a future state.
The Arab League says Israeli plans to annex parts of the West Bank would amount to a war crime and a serious violation of international law if implemented.
"The implementation of plans to annex any part of the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967 ... and the lands on which Israeli settlements are standing represents a new war crime added to the Israeli record full of brutal crimes against the Palestinian people,” the pan-Arab organization said in a statement.
Under an emergency unity deal reached this month by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Benny Gantz, the Cabinet and parliament can take up the annexation issue as soon as July 1 on the condition there is agreement from the United States.
Along with East Jerusalem, the West Bank is part of the territory Palestinians are seeking for a future independent state. Jewish settlements on the land are considered illegal by most of the international community.
