U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would not allow Israel to annex the occupied West Bank.
"I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "No, I will not allow it. It's not going to happen."
Trump's response came after he was asked whether he had promised Arab leaders during a meeting at the United Nations this week that he would prevent any annexation.
Asked whether he had warned Netanyahu against such a move when they spoke earlier Thursday, he said: "Yeah, but I'm not going to allow it.
"Whether I spoke to him or not – I did, but I'm not allowing Israel to annex the West Bank. There's been enough. It's time to stop now."
"We spoke with Bibi Netanyahu today, and we spoke to all the leaders in the Middle East who are great people, and we're getting pretty close to having a deal on Gaza and maybe even peace," Trump said.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said Thursday that Arab and Muslim countries warned Trump of the grave consequences of any Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank — a message the president “understands very well.”
Trump signaled he had received the warning, telling reporters at the White House: “I’m not allowing Israel to annex the West Bank.”
On Tuesday, Trump met with leaders and officials from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Türkiye, Indonesia and Pakistan on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York to discuss Israel’s nearly two-year war on Gaza.
“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.
“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 that the cabinet apply sovereignty to the occupied West Bank, a move amounting to de facto annexation of land Israel seized during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
