US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. AFP
Israeli lawmakers voted on Wednesday to advance two bills on annexing the West Bank, barely a week after President Donald Trump pushed through a deal aimed at ending a two-year Israeli war in the Gaza Strip that has killed and injured more than 200,000 Palestinians.
“I think the president’s made clear that’s not something we can be supportive of right now,” Rubio, who is due to arrive in Israel on Thursday for a 48-hour visit, said of annexation plans.
Annexation moves are “threatening for the peace deal,” he told reporters as he boarded his plane.
“They’re a democracy, they’re going to have their votes, and people are going to take these positions,” Rubio said. “But at this time, it’s something that we...think might be counterproductive,” he added.
Asked about increased violence by extremist Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank, Rubio said: “We’re concerned about anything that threatens to destabilize what we’ve worked on.”
Rubio — the latest senior U.S. official to visit Israel after Vice President J.D. Vance — voiced optimism about preserving the peace agreement.
“Every day there’ll be threats to it, but I actually think we’re ahead of schedule in terms of bringing it together, and the fact that we made it through this weekend is a good sign,” Rubio said.
The United States is Israel’s main military and diplomatic backer. Rubio had until recently avoided direct criticism of moves toward annexation in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory governed by Hamas rivals, the Palestinian Authority.
Annexation efforts, which violate international law, have been championed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right allies.
Several Arab and Islamic states that Washington is courting to contribute troops and funds for a Gaza stabilization force have warned that any Israeli annexation of the West Bank is a red line.
Hamas has also rejected the proposed annexation.
In a statement on Wednesday denouncing the bills, the group said the Israeli move “reflects the ugly face of the colonial occupation” and constitutes a “flagrant violation of all relevant international laws and resolutions.”
Israel, it said, “insists on continuing its attempts to ‘legitimize’ settlements and impose Zionist ‘sovereignty’ over the occupied Palestinian territories.”
“We affirm that the [Israeli] occupation’s frantic attempts to annex West Bank lands are invalid and illegitimate and will not change the fact that the West Bank is Palestinian territory according to history, international law, and the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice issued in 2024,” Hamas said.
Short link: