Israel freezes legislative process for West Bank annexation

Jerusalem, Oct 24 (IANS) Israel has froze the West Bank annexation bills that passed a preliminary vote in the Israeli Parliament, or Knesset.

Ofir Katz, Chairman of the government coalition, said on Thursday in a statement that the bills for the full annexation of the West Bank and the annexation of the large-scale settlement of Maale Adumim near Jerusalem will not be advanced until further notice.

Israel's Parliament voted on Wednesday in favour of the two bills to apply Israeli law and administration to all settlements in Maale Adumim and the West Bank, Xinhua news agency reported.

The vote was carried out during US Vice-President J.D. Vance's visit to the country.

Speaking to reporters at Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv before his departure on Thursday, Vance said the vote was a "political stunt" which has no practical significance.

"If it was a political stunt, it was a very stupid political stunt, and I personally take some insult to it," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement that the parliamentary vote on annexation "was a deliberate political provocation by the Opposition to sow discord during US Vice-President J.D. Vance's visit to Israel".

It added that Netanyahu's Likud party "did not vote for these bills ... Without Likud support, these bills are unlikely to go anywhere".

Meanwhile, delegations from Hamas and Fatah met in Cairo to discuss arrangements for the post-war phase in the Gaza Strip, Egyptian TV channel Al-Qahera News reported on Thursday.

Hamas' delegation is led by senior leader and chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, while Fatah's delegation is headed by Palestinian Vice-President Hussein al-Sheikh and Palestinian intelligence chief Majed Faraj, according to the report.

It added that Cairo is also hosting talks among Palestinian factions on the second phase of Trump's peace plan for Gaza, noting that Egypt is preparing to host a conference on Gaza's reconstruction in the second half of November.

--IANS

int/khz