RAMALLAH, Monday, May 18, 2020 (WAFA) – Premier Mohammad Shtayyeh today warned of the threat Israel’s prospective move to annex parts of the occupied West Bank poses to regional security and stability.

In a phone conversation with his Swedish counterpart Stefan Löfven, Shtayyeh discussed several issues, with particular focus on the challenges posed by Israel’s move to apply sovereignty over, in other words annex, large swaths of the occupied West Bank.

He called on the European Union to take a unified decisive stance that would hold Israel liable for its violations of international law and United Nations resolutions, and stressed the need that other EU countries would follow the suit of Sweden by recognizing the State of Palestine based on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

“We should face together the threat ]that Israel’s planned annexation[ poses not only to the Palestinian territories and rights, but also to regional security and stability, and that undermines the principle of commitment to the international law,” he stated.

He pointed out that President Mahmoud Abbas sent several letters to various actors, particularly the Middle East Quartet and the United Nations, urging them to convene an international peace conference based on international law.

He stressed that the Palestinian leadership would convene Tuesday to discuss the response to Israel’s annexation threat, and that it would not remain committed to agreements that Israel has violated on several levels.

Löfven stated that Israel’s annexation threat constitutes a violation of international law and would destabilize the region, and that any solution to the ‘Palestinian-Israeli conflict’ should be based on the two-state solution.

K.F.