Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi strongly deplored Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his election pledge to annex parts of the West Bank to the occupied territories, stressing Tehran's support for any collective move against Israel's expansionist policies. RNA - "Netanyahu is seeking to stay in power and continue with aggression, one day, by leveling charges against Iran, and the other day, by declaring evil intentions to annex parts of Palestine," Mousavi said.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran will support any collective move to block continued expansionist policies of the occupier regime," he added.
Mousavi said that certain Arab states claiming the leadership of the Arab world which are busy with other issues like their military aggression against Yemen and warming up ties with the Zionist regime had provided Tel Aviv with an opportunity to disclose its evil intentions.
His remarks came after Netanyahu said Tuesday that he would move swiftly to annex nearly a third of the occupied West Bank if voters returned him to power in the election next week.
A spokesman for Palestinian Hamas resistance movement dismissed Netanyahu’s controversial pledge to annex the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank if re-elected, noting that he is still under the delusion that the Tel Aviv regime could maintain its occupation of the Palestinian land.
Hazem Qasem stated on Wednesday that the Palestinian people would continue their struggle to remove the occupation from their territories, and establish their independent state.
According to Fars News Agancy, Qasem then accused Netanyahu of wooing his right-wing supporters through selling illusions that the Israeli regime can occupy the Palestinian land forever.
The Hamas spokesman later stressed the need for a unified Palestinian front in the face of rightist Israeli policies.
Separately, the European Union warned on Wednesday that Netanyahu's pledge to annex the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank if he wins next week's election undermines chances for peace in the Middle East region.
“The policy of settlement construction and expansion... is illegal under international law and its continuation, and actions taken in this context, undermine the viability of the two-state solution and the prospects for a lasting peace,” an unnamed EU spokesperson said in a statement.
Moreover, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has reiterated that the Palestinian Authority will cease all agreements signed with the Israeli regime if the latter decides to annex any part of the occupied Palestinian land.
Speaking at a meeting with visiting Luxembourgish Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn and his accompanying delegation in Ramallah on Wednesday, Abbas underscored that Benjamin Netanyahu's vow to annex the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank eliminates all chances of achieving peace and undermines all international efforts to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
He slammed the pledge as a clear violation of all United Nations resolutions and the international law.
847/940