Abbas's Deputy Warns: Israeli Escalation in the West Bank Threatens the Two-State Solution
The Palestinian Vice President Hussein Sheikh warned today, Sunday, of serious repercussions from anticipated Israeli decisions aimed at deepening annexation and imposing new realities on the ground in the West Bank, asserting that these steps represent a complete dismantling of all signed and binding agreements between the two parties.
Sheikh stated that the discussions regarding Israeli decisions that include areas (A), which are under Palestinian civil and security administration, constitute a highly dangerous escalation and a blatant violation of international law, warning that these unilateral measures undermine any political horizon and directly target the end of the two-state solution.
He added that Israel seeks through these policies to drag the region towards further tension and instability, calling on the U.S. administration and the international community for immediate and decisive intervention to stop what he described as “occupational encroachment.”
Sheikh's statements come at a time when Yedioth Ahronoth revealed that the Israeli government made a series of new decisions today, Sunday, that would facilitate settlers' purchase of land in the West Bank and expand settlement, in addition to granting Israel itself the authority to take direct actions in area (A).
Israeli estimates and reports indicate that these decisions will remove obstacles to significant Israeli presence expansion in the West Bank, in a move that practically undermines the 1997 agreement signed between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
These developments gain special importance as they come ahead of the anticipated visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington on Wednesday, where he is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump, amid reports from Axios that Trump and his senior advisors have urged Netanyahu to change his policy in the West Bank.
In light of these circumstances, Palestinian and international fears are increasing that the new Israeli steps could ignite the situation on the ground and close the door completely on any future political settlement.
