West Bank: 40 women politicians around the world appeal against Israeli annexation plan

Forty international women politicians on Wednesday called to oppose the Israeli plan to annex sections of the occupied West Bank, which must " not go unanswered ". The Israeli government must in principle decide, from Wednesday, July 1, on the implementation of US President Donald Trump's plan for the Middle East, which notably provides for the annexation by Israel of the colonies and the valley of the Jordan in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by the Israeli army since 1967.

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" Such a measure will destroy half a century of efforts for peace in the region and will have considerable consequences ," warn the signatories of this text, including the former Swiss president Micheline Calmy-Rey, the former minister of French Justice Christiane Taubira, Iranian lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi or former South African Minister Barbara Hogan.

"Annexation cannot go unanswered"

“ We have received urgent calls from Palestinian and Israeli women. (...) We must be guided by humanity and the resolution of courageous women who have suffered greatly from the conflict and yet refuse to be blinded by hatred. Their words represent the future that the region needs, ”they write in this text sent to AFP. " Annexation cannot go unanswered and a firm international commitment is more necessary than ever, and this requires effective measures to prevent illegal unilateral actions and achieve a just and lasting peace ."

Rejected en masse by the Palestinians, the American plan was hailed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a " historic opportunity " to assert the " sovereignty " of Israel over parts of the " Judea and Samaria ", biblical name and official used by the Hebrew State to designate the West Bank. More than 2.8 million Palestinians now live in the West Bank, where more than 450,000 Israelis also live in settlements deemed illegal by international law.