UN chief denounces Israeli leader Netanyahu’s land annexation plan
U.N. Secretary General António Guterres expressed
concern on Wednesday about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to
annex parts of the West Bank if re-elected, saying it would be illegal and gut
prospects for regional peace.
“Such steps, if implemented, would constitute a
serious violation of international law,” he said in a statement. “They would be
devastating to the potential of reviving negotiations and regional peace, while
severely undermining the viability of the two-State solution.”
Meanwhile and at the request of Saudi Arabia, the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation will hold an emergency foreign ministers’
meeting on Sunday in Jeddah to discuss the “Israeli escalation.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Russia warned that Benjamin
Netanyahu’s pledge to annex the West Bank’s Jordan Valley could escalate tensions
as the Israeli Prime Minister geared up to hold talks with President Vladimir
Putin.
