The Israeli Knesset has approved the preliminary reading of a bill to formally annex the occupied West Bank, triggering a wave of regional condemnation and stark warnings from the United States over the future of the fragile Gaza ceasefire.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned on Wednesday that the legislation could collapse the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Speaking to reporters before his departure to Tel Aviv, Rubio stated, “I think the president’s made clear that’s not something we’d be supportive of right now.”
Rubio stressed that any Israeli attempt to extend sovereignty over Palestinian land would risk undermining the process of the US-brokered ceasefire which went into effect earlier this month.
The Knesset voted 25–24 in favor of the annexation bill on Wednesday. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich hailed the vote, declaring, “The time has come to apply full sovereignty over all the territories of Judea and Samaria, the inheritance of our forefathers,” using Israel’s biblical term for the West Bank. Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir echoed the sentiment, regarding the opportune time for annexation.
Though the bill has passed only an initial reading, three more are required before it becomes law, it marks a significant escalation in Israel’s annexation agenda, long championed by its ultranationalist coalition.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly instructed Likud lawmakers to abstain from the vote. A Likud statement called the move “another provocation by the opposition aimed at damaging our relations with the United States.”
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the bill in the strongest terms, calling it “null, void, unrecognized, and rejected, and do not constitute a reality.” The ministry urged international bodies to take immediate action to halt what it called Israel’s expansionist project.
Hamas said the vote “reveals the colonial brutality of the occupation” and reiterated that the bill “will not change the fact that the West Bank is Palestinian land by virtue of history, international law, and the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2024.”
Jordan’s Foreign Ministry called the legislation a “flagrant violation of international law” and a direct assault on the two-state solution. Qatar echoed the condemnation, urging the UN Security Council to act decisively to stop Israel’s continued land seizures.
The vote has further exposed fractures within Israel’s political establishment. Last month, Smotrich pushed to apply Israeli law over 82% of the West Bank, leaving just 18% under nominal Palestinian administration.
In July, the Knesset passed a similar measure declaring the West Bank and Jordan Valley “are the heart of our country.”
In the United States, Republican lawmakers introduced legislation in February to replace “West Bank” with “Judea and Samaria” in official documents, deepening alignment with Israel’s narrative of permanent control.
While Washington publicly opposes annexation, critics say US policy increasingly enables Israel’s occupation. The convergence of language, law, and diplomatic inaction, they warn, signals tacit approval of Israel’s expanding settler-colonial project.
