United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, has warned that the shock waves that could possibly be caused by this annexation of Palestine by Israel could last for decades.
“Annexation is illegal. Period,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement. “Any annexation. Whether it is 30 percent of the West Bank or 5 percent,” she said, urging Israel to “listen to its own former senior officials and generals, as well as to the multitude of voices around the world, warning it not to proceed along this dangerous path.”
There have also been petitions to Prime Minister Netanyahu repeatedly, asking him to to withdraw this declaration to occupy the West Bank region of Palestine as well as the Jordan valley.
While countries like Germany have come out in opposition to this decision, US President Donald Trump said that he stood by the Israel Prime Minister’s decision saying that it this would be another step towards his vision for peace in the region.
Israel has planned to annex a third of the West Bank, including parts of the strategic Jordan Valley. Annexing the Jordan Valley would mean that Israel would officially consider it part of its state. In addition, significant tracts of private lands would likely be expropriated, and even in cases where this does not occur, many Palestinians could lose access to cultivate their own lands. The annexation is set to begin on July 1, in an attempt to fulfill an election pledge by Prime Minister Netanyahu.