Rubio warns against annexing West Bank after Israeli parliament moves

The US secretary of state said a move by the Israeli parliament to annex the occupied West Bank would jeopardize Washington’s plan to end the conflict in Gaza.

“It’s not something we can support right now,” Marco Rubio said before leaving for Israel as part of a U.S. effort to shore up the fragile ceasefire agreement.

In an apparent attempt to embarrass Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, far-right politicians have taken the symbolic step of giving preliminary approval to a bill that would give Israel the power to annex the West Bank.

The Palestinians claim the West Bank – occupied by Israel since 1967 – as part of a credible independent state.

Last year, the International Court of Justice – the UN’s highest court – declared Israel’s occupation illegal.

Netanyahu has previously spoken out in favor of annexing the West Bank territory, but has not moved forward with it because of the risk of alienating the US – Israel’s most important ally – and Arab countries that have built relations with Israel after decades of enmity.

Ultranationalists in Netanyahu’s ruling coalition have repeatedly called for Israel to fully annex the West Bank, even though the bill was proposed by lawmakers outside the government.

The bill passed on a 25-24 vote. It is unclear whether he has the support to win a majority in the 120-seat Knesset (parliament), and there are ways for the prime minister to delay or defeat it.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the Knesset’s move, saying Israel would not have sovereignty over Palestinian land.

During the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Israel built about 160 settlements in which 700,000 Jews live. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside them.

The settlements are illegal under international law, a position supported by the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion last year.

As he boarded the plane to Israel, Rubio said annexation would be “counterproductive” and “threatening” to the peace agreement — repeating US resistance to annexation.

His visit on Thursday comes amid trips by US Vice President JD Vance and two special envoys as the Trump administration tries to push for talks to begin the second critical phase of his 20-point Gaza peace plan.

The first phase – which includes a ceasefire, a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces and an influx of aid – took effect earlier this month.

Both Israel and Hamas have accused each other of violating the agreement over deadly incidents, but it has so far remained in place.

Rubio called similar optimism to Vance’s to preserve the truce.

“Every day there will be threats to him, but I actually think we’re ahead of schedule in terms of getting him together and the fact that we made it this weekend is a good sign,” he said.

The second phase of the peace plan would include the establishment of an interim government in Gaza, the deployment of an international stabilization force, the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the disarmament of Hamas.

The Gaza war began with a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.

In the ensuing conflict, more than 68,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.