“France condemns the recent remarks of Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in favor of the annexation of the West Bank by Israel,” the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement, according to Anadolu Agency.
It recalled that those remarks were “against international law and the efforts that aim a de-escalation of the regional tensions.”
On Monday, Smotrich said he instructed Israel’s Settlement Division and Civil Administration to initiate the groundwork for infrastructure to “apply sovereignty” in the West Bank.
The ministry stressed France’s commitment to the implementation of “the two-state solution” for Israel and Palestine to live “in peace and security,” and noted that this would be the “only” way to a “just and durable” solution.
This June, the far-right politician confirmed reports from The New York Times that he had a “secret plan” to annex the West Bank and thwart any efforts to incorporate it into a future Palestinian state.
In July, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a landmark opinion that declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land “illegal” and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
MNA
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