US President Donald Trump has declared that he will not allow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex the Israeli-occupied West Bank, pushing back against demands from ultranationalists in Israel’s ruling coalition.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump said: “I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank … It’s not going to happen.”
The remarks came ahead of Netanyahu’s planned address to the UN General Assembly on Friday. Trump, who is due to meet Netanyahu on Monday, also said negotiations over Gaza were making progress.
“We’re getting pretty close to having a deal on Gaza, and maybe even peace,” he told reporters, adding that he had spoken to Netanyahu as well as other leaders in the Middle East.
Calls for annexation have intensified within Netanyahu’s coalition, with far-right allies urging Israel to take full control of the West Bank to prevent growing international recognition of a Palestinian state.
The UK and Germany have both warned against such a move, while UN Secretary General António Guterres said on Monday it would be “morally, legally and politically intolerable.”
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who addressed the UN General Assembly by video link on Thursday after being barred by the US from travelling to New York, signaled readiness to work with global powers on a peace plan announced by France.
“Hamas will not have a role to play in governance,” Abbas said, insisting that a Palestinian state should assume “full responsibilities” for Gaza once Israel withdraws and ensure its connection to the West Bank. He also thanked countries that had recently recognised Palestine, including Canada, Australia, the UK, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, and others.
Trump held separate talks at the UN earlier this week with Arab and Muslim leaders who warned of serious consequences if annexation proceeded. Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said: “I think the president of the US understands very well the risks and dangers of annexation in the West Bank.”
Meanwhile, Israel tightened its control over Palestinian movement by closing the only crossing between the West Bank and Jordan on Wednesday, days after a Jordanian gunman killed two Israeli soldiers at the site before being shot dead.
The move has blocked access to the outside world for more than two million Palestinians.
In Gaza, local hospitals reported that more than 80 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed by Israeli strikes on Wednesday, most of them in Gaza City.
The war has continued since the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 others taken hostage.
According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, at least 65,419 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since then, including more than 18,000 children.
The humanitarian crisis remains dire, with a UN-backed food security body warning in August that more than half a million people in Gaza were facing “catastrophic” conditions of starvation and destitution.
While Netanyahu has rejected claims of famine, a UN commission of inquiry recently concluded that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, a finding Israel dismissed as “distorted and false.”
International pressure on Israel is building. Several European states have formally recognised Palestine, while the European Commission has announced plans to curb trade with Israel and sanction extremist ministers in Netanyahu’s government.
Microsoft also cut some services to a unit of Israel’s Defence Ministry after revelations its technology was used for mass surveillance in Gaza. In response, Netanyahu has urged Israel to embrace greater self-sufficiency.