We’ll declare state on 1967 lines if West Bank annexed
If Israel annexes part of the West Bank in July, the Palestinian Authority will declare a state based on the armistice lines from before the 1967 Six Day War and call on the international community to recognize it, PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh warned on Tuesday.
Speaking to members of the foreign press in Ramallah, Shtayyeh said he would expect the international community to impose sanctions on Israel in the event of annexation.
“We are facing the moment of truth: nowhere on earth can we live with this annexation,” he threatened. “If Israel goes to annexation, it is a different day for us... Annexation is an existential threat to our future.”
There are four pillars of a Palestinian state: Gaza, Jerusalem, Areas A, B and C of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley, Shtayyeh said. Therefore, “annexation is the erosion of a future Palestinian state,” he said, “and the world has to choose between international law and annexation. I am sure the international community will choose international law.”
He described annexation as having a number of dimensions.
The first dimension of annexation was taken on April 20, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz signed an agreement that states the country has a right to annex West Bank land. The agreement was based on support by the United States and its “Deal of the Century” peace plan, which US President Donald Trump rolled out at the end of January and allows for Israel to annex some 30% of the West Bank.
“When they were sworn into the Knesset, they announced they were going to annex, and at the first cabinet meeting they announced they were going to annex the Jordan Valley, specifically,” he recalled.
Shtayyeh claimed that already some small steps have been taken on the ground by
Israelis in the Jordan Valley to prepare for annexation: Israel started sending utility bills to residents in Arab villages in the Jordan Valley. In addition, the signage that used to indicate “Beyond this point is Palestinian” has been removed.
Despite his claim, Palestinians in the Jordan Valley contacted by The Jerusalem Post said they had not seen real changes on the ground and denied that signs had been removed.
Israel has provided water and electricity to all residents of the Jordan Valley - Jewish and Arab - for decades. Generally, the bills are sent directly to the PA, which then distributes them. Last month, due to a delay by the PA, Israel’s Civil Administration distributed the bills.
The next dimension, he said, is expected to take place on July 1, when Israel said it will start the legislative process of annexation in the cabinet and possibly the Knesset.
He said the Blue and White Party wants to annex the larger settlement blocs and Netanyahu wants to annex the Jordan Valley.
A third and final stage of annexation, he said, would be implementation.
However, he said that the Palestinians are hoping that Israel does not take it so far and are therefore appealing to the international community.
Earlier this week, Shtayyeh held a phone conversation
with European Union President Charles Michel, during which he stressed the importance of the EU taking “serious and practical” steps to confront Israel’s plans.
Last weekend, he hosted Norway’s special envoy for the Middle East peace process, Tor Wennesland. He asked Wennesland to rally the international community to prevent Israel from carrying out its plan.
On Wednesday, Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas will visit Jerusalem but Israel has recommended that he not visit Ramallah, citing coronavirus. Israel told the official that he would be required to quarantine for 14 days upon reentry. As such, Maas will meet with Palestinian officials via video conference instead.
Shtayyeh accused Israel of using coronavirus as “an excuse.”
“We know the history of German-Jewish relations,” he told the press. “But this should not come at the expense of international law. It should not come at the expense of Palestinian rights.”
Shtayyeh stressed that Israel’s annexation is based on maps provided by the Trump administration and that those maps “endanger the whole future of the peace process.”
He also noted that the Palestinian Authority was asked to submit a counter-proposal and that a few days ago it provided the Quartet with a document which has not yet been made public. He said that the plan describes the creation of a “sovereign Palestinian state, independent and demilitarized.”
“If you ask Palestinians, ‘What do you want?’ Some will tell you two states, some will tell you one,” Shtayyeh concluded. “Maybe... there are different points of view. But there is no difference on point of view when it comes to one single thing: end of occupation. That is what the people want.” •