Israel’s plans to annex parts of the West Bank will severely affect regional and global stability, the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation said. The Israeli move amounts to “a formal end to a negotiated settlement,” and will have “dangerous consequences” on international efforts to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the OIC said in a statement issued after a meeting on Wednesday . “It is driving the whole region toward more violence and instability and will have severe repercussions on the stability and security of the whole world,” the group said. Israel’s new unity government intends to begin discussions next month on annexation of its West Bank settlements in occupied land that Palestinians claim for a future state. Arab and European powers indicated that the plan could kill off a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict. “All administrative and legislative measures to change the centre and nature of the state of occupied Palestine are null and void,” the OIC said, referring also to Israeli infringements in Jerusalem. Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, who chaired the OIC meeting, said the Israeli plan was in line with a policy of “demographic change” that Israel had been practising for decades in historic Palestine. He called for continued support to “efforts to push forward negotiations according to international law to reach a just and comprehensive solution that meets the aspirations of the Palestinian People”. The UAE's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr Anwar Gargash, said Israel’s aim “to impose its sovereignty on areas in the West bank is unacceptable”. Israel says annexation conforms with a plan announced by US President Donald Trump in Washington in January. The US plan has been rejected by the Palestinian Authority, which issued a formal response earlier this week. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said on Tuesday that it was sent to the United Nations, the US, European Union and Russia, which are mediating in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
