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UK Would Not Back Israeli 'Annexation of Parts of West Bank', Junior Foreign Office Minister Says

The minister's remark follows US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's statement in which the latter said that the annexation of parts of the West Bank was for Israel to decide.
Sputnik

The United Kingdom refuses to support an annexation of parts of the West Bank by Israel as it would complicate the achievement of a two-state solution, junior Foreign Office minister James Cleverly told parliament on Monday.

On 20 April, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main political rival, Benny Gantz, reached a coalition agreement empowering Israel to start the de-facto annexation of the West Bank based on the peace plan proposed by US President Donald Trump.

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Under the US peace plan, Israel is set to extend sovereignty over the West Bank and effectively surround Palestinian settlements in exchange for Palestinian access to Israeli ports and patches of land in the desolate southern desert regions.

Earlier, the US Ambassador to Israel announced that the Trump Administration was ready to recognise Israel’s sovereignty of 30% of the West Bank.

Israel occupied the West Bank during the Six-Day War in 1967. Since then, Palestine has been demanding its return.

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