A stable West Bank keeps Israel secure and aligns with this administration’s goal of achieving peace in the region,” the official told Reuters.
United States President Donald Trump opposes Israel’s annexation of the occupied West Bank, a White House official said on Monday.
“A stable West Bank keeps Israel secure and aligns with this administration’s goal of achieving peace in the region,” the official told Reuters.
The comment comes amid growing international criticism after Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, and defence minister, Israel Katz, announced new measures on Sunday to extend Israeli control over occupied Palestinian territory.
The steps would also make it easier for Israelis to acquire land for new settlements, which are considered illegal under international law.
Eight Muslim-majority countries Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates condemned the move in a joint statement on Monday, saying the “illegal Israeli decisions and measures” were intended to impose unlawful Israeli sovereignty over Palestinian land.
They added that the measures sought to entrench settlement activity and create new legal and administrative realities in the West Bank, accelerating what they described as illegal annexation and the displacement of Palestinians.
The United Nations secretary-general, the United Kingdom and Spain also joined the chorus of criticism. UN chief António Guterres said Israel’s actions were destabilising and damaging to prospects for a two-state solution, according to his spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric.
Asked at a news conference in New York whether Guterres viewed the measures as a de facto annexation, Dujarric said the decisions were pushing the region further away from a two-state solution and undermining Palestinians’ ability to determine their future.
Dujarric added that Guterres would continue to advocate respect for international law and press for a two-state solution, while urging other international actors to do the same.
The British government also called on Israel to reverse the decision, saying it “strongly condemns” the Israeli Security Cabinet’s move to expand control over the West Bank.
“Any unilateral attempt to alter the geographic or demographic makeup of Palestine is wholly unacceptable and would be inconsistent with international law.
We call on Israel to reverse these decisions immediately,” the statement said.
The measures include transferring authority over building permits in Hebron the largest city in the occupied West Bank from the Palestinian Authority to Israel.
They also increase Israeli control over two major religious sites in the southern West Bank: Rachel’s Tomb near Bethlehem and the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron.
Smotrich said the changes were aimed at “deepening our roots in all regions of the Land of Israel and burying the idea of a Palestinian state.”
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