The Israeli government plans on going through with the annexation of about 30 percent of the occupied West Bank within the coming two to three months, Israeli Water Resources and Higher Education Minister Zeev Elkin told Sputnik
TEL AVIV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th June, 2020) The Israeli government plans on going through with the annexation of about 30 percent of the occupied West Bank within the coming two to three months, Israeli Water Resources and Higher Education Minister Zeev Elkin told Sputnik.
"Within the framework of the deal proposed by the US administration, we plan to extend Israel's sovereignty over Judea and Samaria [West Bank, areas to the west of River Jordan] and the population points with Israeli inhabitants," Elkin said.
Elkin, who is a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party and a Knesset member, went on to say that the annexation will reflect the realities of the situation on the ground.
"Today, about 10 percent of Israel's population lives behind the 'green line' and that is why extending Israeli sovereignty reflects the realistic situation today... I hope that this step will be taken in the coming two or three months," Elkin said in an interview with Sputnik.
The multi-portfolio minister also hoped that the international community would recognize Israel's new borders but conceded that the process may take some time.
Much of the international community rejected the so-called "deal of the century" proposed by US President Donald Trump in late January.
The United Nations, the European Union and other international bodies expressed concern over the imminent annexation of the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank as violations of existing UN resolutions and the Oslo Agreement.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in May trashed all existing deals with Israel and the US in protestation.
