West Bank in focus on Pompeo Israel trip

JERUSALEM－US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke on Wednesday of the complexities of Israel's planned de facto annexation of the occupied West Bank, saying after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the move must be done in accordance with a US peace plan in the Middle East.

Pompeo was wearing a red, white and blue face mask as he arrived on his first foreign trip in nearly two months, which came amid renewed unrest in the West Bank.

During a six-hour visit to Israel, Pompeo held talks with Netanyahu and his political rival turned designated coalition partner Benny Gantz, a day before the inauguration of their new government.

The new government plans in July to begin debating extending sovereignty to Israeli settlements and the strategic Jordan Valley in the West Bank, a territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East War and that Palestinians seek for a future state.

The annexation is actually part of US President Donald Trump's peace plan, better known as the Deal of Century, but it was not immediately clear if Washington will back the timing of the move.

In an interview with the Israel Hayom newspaper, in which he was quoted in Hebrew, Pompeo said the West Bank territorial moves were an Israeli decision that Netanyahu and Gantz have a right to make.

But Pompeo noted the issue was complex and required coordination with the United States, which has formed a joint team with Israel to map out new territorial lines in the West Bank in accordance with Trump's Middle East plan.

He said he and the Israeli leaders also talked "about many other issues related to it－how to deal with all parties involved, and how to make sure the move is done properly "under Trump's plan.

But appearing to dismiss reports that annexation talks were the purpose of Pompeo's visit, a senior US State Department official said: "I do think that we should dispel the notion that we flew halfway around the world to talk about annexation."

Nearly 3 million Palestinians live in the territory alongside more than 400,000 Israelis in settlements that are considered illegal under international law.

For the Palestinians and much of the international community, Israeli annexations would sink any hope of a two-state solution to the conflict.

Former US president Barack Obama's ambassador to Israel, Daniel Shapiro, said he believes the "Trump administration very much wants this annexation to happen".

The plan envisages a Palestinian state under near-complete Israeli security control, made up of stretches of land in the West Bank, as well as the Gaza Strip on the Mediterranean coast and two expanses of territory in Israel's southern Negev desert.

Warning from Abbas

In televised remarks on Wednesday night, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the Palestinians would review their peace accords with Israel and agreements with the US should Israel annex West Bank land.

"We will hold the American and Israeli governments responsible for all the consequences," he said.

The Palestinians deem Israel's settlements illegal under international law, as do most world powers. Israel and the Trump administration dispute that view.

With Palestinian leaders warning that annexation could imperil the already limited cooperation between the sides, there has been a spike in violence in the West Bank.

Israeli troops shot dead a 15-year-old Palestinian on Wednesday in the Al-Fawar refugee camp near the flashpoint city of Hebron, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

The Israeli army said it had responded to "violent riots" with live fire and was investigating reports of Palestinian casualties.

It was the second death in clashes in the West Bank in as many days.

On Tuesday, the Israeli army suffered its first fatality of the year when a Palestinian stone-thrower killed a soldier during an arrest operation near Jenin.

The Palestinians have tried to rally European states to oppose any Israeli annexation, as France pushes for the European Union to consider punitive economic measures should Israel declare sovereignty in the West Bank.

Agencies - Xinhua