Morocco strongly condemns Netanyahu’s plans to annex Jordan Valley

Morocco has strongly condemned the Israeli Prime Minister’s avowed plans to annex the Jordan Valley and the northern part of the Dead Sea.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s announcement represents a dangerous escalation and a threat of a new violation of all international laws and resolutions that is likely to torpedo all the tireless efforts aimed at reaching a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, said the Moroccan Foreign Affairs Ministry in a statement issued Thursday.

Morocco, while reaffirming its constant and continued support to the Palestinian people and its utter rejection of any infringement of their inalienable rights, on top of which their right to establish an independent Palestinian State on the borders of 4 June 1967, with Al Quds – As a capital, calls on the international community, in particular the permanent members of the Security Council, to act urgently to prevent the violation of these rights, in order to preserve the chances of achieving the two-State solution and to guarantee the security and stability in the region, the statement stated further.

Benjamin Netanyahu made the controversial pledge to annex the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank if he wins a repeat election on September 17.

“Today, I announce my intention to apply, with a future government, the sovereignty of Israel over the Jordan Valley and the northern part of the Dead Sea,” he said on Tuesday at a press conference in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv.

The Arab and Islamic world, along with the Palestinians, overwhelmingly denounced Netanyahu’s plan as a serious escalation, noting however that Israel’s attempts to impose a fait accompli policy will not obliterate the inalienable and protected rights of the Palestinian people.

The international community also decried the Israeli PM’s pledge.
“Any Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdictions and administration in the occupied West Bank is without any international legal effect,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

“Such a prospect would be devastating to the potential of reviving negotiations, regional peace and the very essence of a two-state solution,” he said.

The European Union also condemned the announcement underlining in a statement that Netanyahu’s plans would “undermine the viability of the two-state solution and the prospects for a lasting peace.”

Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 war. Over 2.5 million Palestinians now live there, in addition to nearly 700,000 Jewish settlers. Israel already has annexed East Jerusalem in a move that is not internationally recognized.