Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit warned on Wednesday that Israel’s annexation of parts of the West Bank "will destroy any prospect for peace in the future."
"The possible move by the Israeli government to annex parts of the occupied Palestinian territory would constitute, if implemented, a serious threat to regional stability," he added during a UN Security Council video conference in which several government ministers participated.
Annexation would endanger Middle East peace and could ignite “a religious war in and beyond our region,” he continued.
He told the Security Council it will have “broader ramifications on the international security around the world.”
The council meeting came days ahead of the July 1 date that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition deal allows an annexation plan to be presented.
"I call on the Israeli government to abandon its annexation plans," said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, an appeal echoed by almost all other speakers.
Annexation, he said, “would constitute a most serious violation of international law, grievously harm the prospect of a two-state solution and undercut the possibilities of a renewal of negotiations.” And he said it would “further hamper efforts to advance regional peace and to maintain international peace and security.”
Guterres urged the United States, the European Union and Russia to swiftly take up their mediation role along with the United Nations as part of the so-called Quartet “and find a mutually agreeable framework for the parties to re-engage, without preconditions, with us and other key states.”
He also urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders “to commit to meaningful dialogue, with the support of the international community." And he encouraged regional and international supporters of a two-state solution to help bring the parties back to a “path towards a negotiated, peaceful settlement.”
The UN coordinator for the Middle East, Nickolay Mladenov said annexation "could irrevocably alter the nature of Israeli-Palestinian relations."
He added: "It risks up-ending more than a quarter of a century of international efforts in support of a future viable Palestinian state living in peace, security and mutual recognition with the State of Israel."
Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war and has built dozens of settlements that are now home to nearly 500,000 Israelis, but it never formally claimed it as an Israeli territory due to stiff international opposition.
The Palestinians, with wide international backing, seek the territory as the heartland of their future independent state. Most of the international community considers Israel’s West Bank settlements illegal under international law.
Trump’s Middle East plan, unveiled in January, envisions leaving some 30 percent of the West Bank territory under permanent Israeli control while giving the Palestinians expanded autonomy in the rest of the area. The Palestinians have rejected the plan, saying it is unfairly biased toward Israel.
With Trump’s re-election prospects uncertain this November, Israeli hardliners have urged Prime Minister Netanyahu to move ahead with annexation quickly.
