The Palestinian armed movement Hamas warned on Thursday 25 June that an annexation by Israel of parts of the occupied West Bank would constitute “declaration of warAfter the UN warned of the risks of such a project.
See also – West Bank: Hamas considers annexation “a declaration of war”
These words come in a climate of fear as July 1 approaches, the date from which the Israeli government must decide on the implementation of the American plan for the Middle East. This provides for the annexation by Israel of the Jordan Valley and the settlements in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by the Israeli army since 1967, as well as the creation of a Palestinian state on a reduced territory.
«Resistance views annexation of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley as a declaration of war against our people and we will make the enemy bite their fingers in remorse“Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abou Obaida, the military wing of Hamas, Abou Obaida, said on television.
In recent years, Hamas and Israel have fought three wars (2008, 2012, 2014) and despite a recent truce, the two sides have clashed occasionally with rocket fire from Gaza and strikes Israeli army retaliation.
In mid-June, Israel had been the target of a rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave, a few hours after a call from Hamas to “unity“And to”resistanceIn front of the Israeli project. The Israeli army retaliated by targeting positions of the Islamist movement.
“Give diplomacy a chance”
Rejected by the Palestinians, the plan of the American administration has also been denounced by the European Union, the Arab League and the UN. In Jerusalem on Thursday, the United Nations envoy for the Middle East Nickolay Mladenov warned against “empty“Which the Israeli annexation could create, which would be filled by”radicals” to the “devastating intentions».
«If the Palestinians feel that there is no prospect for a peaceful resolution of the conflict, it will only create opportunities for radicals, people with devastating intentions (…), to come and fill this void“, He warned, during a meeting with the foreign press in Jerusalem.
«Nobody wants a new war in the Middle East and certainly not a (war) that has the potential to extend beyond its bordersAdded the official, who said that “a single incidentCould escalate the situation. The UN official also said “Work hardTo allow a resumption of discussions between Palestinians and Israelis.
«We have consulted widely, and we continue to consult widely with Arab countries, which in the future may play a much more important role than in the past in these discussions.“, did he declare.
Historically, the Arab countries – apart from Egypt and Jordan linked to Israel by peace treaties – have made the settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict the condition for normalizing their relations with Israel. But in recent years, the Israeli authorities have developed informal relations with Gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates.
In a rare column published in an Israeli newspaper, the Emirati ambassador to the United States, Youssef al-Otaïba, recently estimated that an annexation by Israel of parts of the occupied West Bank would hinder a “standardization»Relations with the Hebrew State.
«I am trying to reinstall a dialogue (…) and I am afraid that without dialogue, without giving diplomacy a chance, we will be in the weeks and months to come, in a much more complicated situation than today. huiWarned Nickolay Mladenov again.
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