By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -Arab and Muslim countries warned Donald Trump about the grave consequences of any Israeli annexation of the West Bank — a message the U.S. president “understands very well,” Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters at the White House later, Trump signaled he had received the message, saying: “I’m not allowing Israel to annex the West Bank.”
Trump met leaders and officials from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia and Pakistan on Tuesday to discuss the nearly two-year-long war in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas. The meeting took place at the U.N. on the sidelines of the annual General Assembly.
“The Arab and Muslim countries made very clear to the president the danger of annexation of any type in the West Bank, and the risk that poses, not just for the potential of peace in Gaza, but also to any sustainable peace at all,” Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud told reporters at the United Nations on Thursday.
“And I feel confident that President Trump understood the position of the Arab and Muslim countries, and I think the president in the U.S. understands very well the risks and dangers of annexation in the West Bank,” he added.
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has said he will propose the cabinet apply sovereignty to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, an action representing de facto annexation of land seized in a 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
COMPLEMENTARY EFFORTS
Trump presented a 21-point peace plan for the Middle East, including Gaza, to Arab and Muslim leaders on Tuesday, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Wednesday without giving any details.
Trump will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on Monday.
“The U.S. proposals focus on finding an end to the war in Gaza, which obviously needs to be our immediate priority. And we are very engaged with the U.S., and we are very grateful that the U.S. is focused on ending the war in Gaza and finding an end to the suffering there,” bin Farhan said.
Separately, the 193-member U.N. General Assembly this month overwhelmingly endorsed a seven-page declaration that aims to advance a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians and end the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas militants.
The declaration emerged from an international conference at the U.N. in July – hosted by Saudi Arabia and France – on the decades-long conflict. The United States and Israel boycotted the event and have rejected the international efforts.
Bin Farhan said ending the war in Gaza is “a prerequisite to moving forward on the issue of Palestinian statehood.”
“So I do think the two issues are complementary,” he said of the Trump 21-point peace plan and the U.N.-backed declaration.
An October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel triggered the war in Gaza. Hamas killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and about 251 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. More than 65,000 people, also mostly civilians, have since been killed during the war in Gaza, according to local health authorities.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols and John Irish; Editing by Don Durfee and Howard Goller)
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