'/%3E%3C/svg%3E){kind=small}
More than 1,000 parliamentarians from across Europe have signed a letter strongly opposing plans by Israel to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, reported BBC on Wednesday.
The letter raises “serious concerns” about the proposals and calls for “commensurate consequences”.
More than 240 signatories are legislators in Britain. The Israeli embassy in London declined to comment.
The publication of the letter in several newspapers comes a week before the annexation process could begin.
According to a power-sharing deal which led to the formation of the current Israeli government last month, annexation can be put to a vote from 1 July.
The project is being led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is seeking to extend Israeli sovereignty over parts of the West Bank containing Jewish settlements.
Israel’s incorporation of the settlements was given the green light under US President Donald Trump’s Vision for Peace – a plan for ending the decades old Israel-Palestinian conflict unveiled in January.
The letter, sent to European foreign ministries, warns that unilateral annexation of West Bank territory could be “fatal to the prospects of Israeli-Palestinian peace and will challenge the most basic norms guiding international relations”.
It is a sign of growing international pressure over the proposals which stem from President Trump’s plan for the region, says the BBC’s Tom Bateman in Jerusalem.
The letter, signed by 1,080 parliamentarians from 25 countries, warns of the “destabilising potential” for the region.
The letter was organised by a former speaker of the Israeli parliament, Avraham Burg, along with three other public figures in Israel among those who have traditionally supported the so-called two-state solution of a Palestinian state in the West Bank alongside Israel.
It says President Trump’s plan promotes “effectively permanent Israeli control over a fragmented Palestinian territory, leaving Palestinians with no sovereignty and giving a green light to Israel to unilaterally annex significant parts of the West Bank”.
