German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday that Berlin did not support the aspirations of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to to annex territories in the Jordan Valley
BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th September, 2019) German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday that Berlin did not support the aspirations of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to to annex territories in the Jordan Valley.On September 10, a week before Israel was scheduled to hold snap general vote, Netanyahu made a post-election promise to establish Israel's sovereignty over the northern part of the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley, a region located on the border between the West Bank and Jordan.
"The federal government has already stated its support for the peace process in Israeli-Palestinian conflict within the 'two states' framework. Any annexation is always harmful for the peaceful decisions. It does not help, and so we disagree," Merkel said when asked to comment on Netanyahu's statement.
For decades, Israel has been in conflict with Palestinians, who have been seeking diplomatic recognition for their independent state on the territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which is partially occupied by Israel, and the Gaza Strip.
Resolution 2334, adopted unanimously by the UN Security Council in 2016, states that the Israeli activity of building settlements on Palestinian territories, occupied since 1967, constitutes a violation of international law. Over the past decades, Israel has built more than 120 settlements in the contested area.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has already warned that should Israel push forward with Netanyahu's pledge, it will put an end to the possibility of resolving the conflict peacefully.
