President blocks Israeli push as world leaders urge revival of two-state solution and peace talks over Gaza…reports Asian Lite News
President Donald Trump has declared that he will not permit Israel to annex the West Bank, drawing a sharp line against calls from far-right figures within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition who are pressing for sovereignty over the occupied territory.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump said: “I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. Nope, I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen. There’s been enough. It’s time to stop now.”
The intervention comes as Netanyahu arrived in New York ahead of his address to the United Nations on Friday. His office indicated that the Israeli leader would only respond to Trump’s remarks once back in Israel.
The issue of annexation has loomed large in recent months, particularly after the Israeli government approved the controversial E1 settlement project in August. Critics warn the plan would effectively cut the West Bank in two, severing Palestinian communities from East Jerusalem and destroying the territorial basis of a future Palestinian state.
In a notable shift, several Western nations – including France, Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal – have formally recognised a Palestinian state in recent days. Diplomats say the move is intended to preserve the prospect of a two-state solution in the face of accelerating settlement expansion.
Israel has strongly condemned the decisions, insisting that recognition should only follow direct negotiations. Nonetheless, the recognition wave has given fresh momentum to international diplomacy, particularly at a time when the Gaza conflict is approaching its second year without resolution.
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War and has since established a vast network of settlements, home to roughly 700,000 Israelis. They live alongside some 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed in a move not recognised by most of the world.
Successive Israeli governments have argued that settlements are vital for security and reflect historical and biblical ties to the land. Most of the international community, however, considers them illegal under international law.
Ultra-nationalist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a key member of Netanyahu’s governing coalition, has openly celebrated what he describes as the “erasure” of Palestinian statehood from the political agenda. His rhetoric has fuelled regional unease and added to the pressure on Netanyahu from both domestic allies and international partners.
Earlier this week, Trump met leaders from several Arab and Muslim countries on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, said the US president had listened closely to warnings about the dire consequences of annexation. “It is a message he understands very well,” he told reporters.
The Arab world remains deeply alarmed about the long-term fallout of settlement expansion, particularly given the ongoing war in Gaza and the heightened risk of broader regional instability.
Alongside his annexation remarks, Trump revealed that the United States has tabled a 21-point Middle East peace plan designed to halt the Gaza war and secure the release of hostages held by Hamas.
According to US special envoy Steve Witkoff, the proposals were presented to senior representatives from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Turkiye, Indonesia and Pakistan during high-level meetings in New York this week.
Trump insisted that progress was possible: “We want the hostages back, we want the bodies back and we want to have peace in that region. So we had some very good talks.”
The war, triggered by Hamas’s deadly cross-border assault on 7 October 2023 that killed around 1,200 Israelis and saw more than 250 people taken hostage, has left Gaza in ruins. Local health authorities report over 65,000 Palestinian deaths, with famine conditions taking hold in parts of the territory.
Israeli forces pushed deeper into Gaza City on Thursday, while air strikes killed at least 19 people, according to officials on the ground. Humanitarian organisations warn that the enclave is facing catastrophic shortages of food, medicine and fuel.
Global anger at Israel’s military campaign is intensifying. Italy and Spain on Thursday dispatched naval ships to protect an international aid flotilla attempting to breach Israel’s maritime blockade of Gaza. The Global Sumud Flotilla, composed of around 50 civilian boats, has already come under drone attack.
The mounting diplomatic pressure leaves Israel increasingly isolated even as Netanyahu seeks to reassure domestic audiences that his government will not compromise on security. For Trump, the balancing act is delicate: continuing his support for Israel while pressing for limits on its actions to preserve regional stability and America’s wider interests.
Whether his veto on West Bank annexation will hold in the long run remains uncertain. But for now, it signals Washington’s most explicit effort in recent years to draw boundaries for its closest Middle Eastern ally at a moment when the region sits on the edge of further escalation.
