RAMALLAH, Wednesday, May 6, 2020 (WAFA) – Presidency spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh today denounced US official statements on recognition of Israel’s prospective move to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.

Abu Rudeineh stated that US ambassador to Israel David Friedman’s statements that it was Israel’s decision whether to move forward with applying sovereignty over parts of the west Bank, and that the US was ready to recognize Israeli sovereignty over these parts as unacceptable.

He stressed that neither Israel has the right to annex any part of the West Bank nor the US has the right to recognize Israeli sovereignty over such parts, namely the Jordan Valley and the colonial settlements, and that any such Israeli step would be illegitimate since it violates international law and legitimacy.

He added that the Palestinian people would thwart all plots and would not allow such an annexation move to pass without taking decisive steps against it as confirmed by President Mahmoud Abbas, who reiterated, during his speech before the special online Non-Aligned Movement summit, that he would nullify all agreements with Israel and the US if Israel annexes any part of the occupied West Bank.

Abu Rudeineh held the US administration and Israel responsible for the consequences of such a move.

He also condemned Israeli ‘Defense’ Minister Naftali Bennett’s approval of the construction of some 7,000 new settler units in the colonial settlement of Efrat, south of Jerusalem, as a “blatant aggression” against the Palestinian people and international law.

K.F.