U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned on Wednesday that votes in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, on bills aimed at further extending Israeli sovereignty over parts of the West Bank could “threaten” the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip. “I believe President Trump has made it clear that such a thing cannot be supported at this time,” Rubio told reporters, shortly before departing for Israel, where he is expected to arrive today. He emphasized that potential annexation could “undermine” the ceasefire and prove “counterproductive.”
Yesterday, the Knesset approved two bills providing for the extension of Israeli sovereignty over broader areas of the occupied West Bank, while U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance was in the country.
U.S. President Trump, a major ally of Israel who supported it in the war with Hamas, says he opposes the annexation of the West Bank to Israel, a plan strongly supported by the Israeli far-right. Members of the Israeli parliament approved the two bills preliminarily, in a vote that now allows for their examination and approval in principle.
In August, the Israeli government approved a key plan for the construction of another 3,400 properties for settlers in the West Bank, which was condemned by the UN and foreign leaders.
“It’s a democracy, they will vote,” Mr. Rubio commented. “But right now, this is something that, in our view, could be counterproductive,” he added. Asked about the renewed escalation of violent attacks by extremist settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank, the American Secretary of State said that “we are concerned about anything that threatens to destabilize the fruits of our efforts.”
Mr. Rubio is going to Israel immediately after Vice President Vance, who appeared generally optimistic about maintaining the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip. This agreement, which was implemented on October 10th and is based on Trump’s plan, was threatened on Sunday, following deadly incidents and exchanges of accusations by both sides for ceasefire violations.
“There will be threats to the agreement every day,” “but I think we are actually moving forward based on the implementation timeline and the fact that we got through this weekend is a good sign,” Mr. Vance said.
