Thousands of Palestinians have staged a rally in the central part of the occupied West Bank to express their deep resentment over the Tel Aviv regime’s plans to annex large parts of the Palestinian territories and extend its authority over those areas.
On Monday, the protesters, carrying national Palestinian flags and signs in condemnation of the annexation plan, converged in the center of the city of Ramallah, located 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of Jerusalem al-Quds, warning against the potential threats that the Israeli regime’s move could pose to the regional security and stability.
Speakers at the rally, who included officials with the Fatah movement and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), emphasized that Israel’s controversial annexation plan could kill the prospect of the so-called peace process as it eliminates the possibility of the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.
The development came only two days after the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, stated that the Palestinian Authority would intensify its efforts in the UN Security Council to form a broader front and stop Israel’s plans to annex Palestinian land.
“The broader international front aims at exerting pressure on the Israeli regime to regret implementing its plan of annexing parts of the West Bank land,” Mansour said in an exclusive interview with Arabic-language Voice of Palestine radio station on Saturday.
The high-ranking Palestinian diplomat noted he would meet with the rotating president of the Security Council, Nicolas de Rivière, and other council members to explain the destructive consequences of the Israeli annexation plan.
“We will ask the Security Council to intensify their pressure on Israel, which is fully backed by the US administration, to stop the implementation of the annexation plan,” Mansour pointed out.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was sworn into office for another term on May 17, has set July 1 for the start of cabinet discussions on extending Israeli sovereignty over settlements in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley.
In response to Israel’s decision, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared the end of all agreements signed with Israel and the United States on May 19.