Israel's finance minister threatens to annex the West Bank

"You have no chance, there will be no Palestinian state," Smotrich said during a press conference addressed to several countries that want to announce recognition at the United Nations General Assembly in September. "You will not decide from overseas what the future of the Jewish people looks like."

Smotrich said near the settlement of Maale Adumim: "If you recognize a Palestinian state in September, our response will be to assert full Israeli sovereignty in all areas of Judea and Samaria (the Hebrew name for the West Bank)."

Israel rejects recognition as a "reward for Hamas"

Several states, including France, Canada and Australia, want to recognize a Palestinian state next month. Almost 150 of the 193 member states of the United Nations have already done so. The aim is to promote a two-state solution. This means that Israel and an independent Palestinian state exist peacefully side by side.

Israel, on the other hand, rejects recognition as a "reward for Hamas" after the massacre in the Israeli border area on October 7, 2023. Ghazi Hamad, a high-ranking Hamas member, praised the expected recognition in a TV interview last month as the "fruits of October 7".

Netanyahu had suspended annexation plans in 2020

In 1967, Israel conquered the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where more than 700,000 settlers now live among around three million Palestinians. According to international law, the settlements there are illegal. The Palestinians claim the territories for their own state with East Jerusalem as its capital. However, the Israeli government rejects the two-state solution on the grounds that it would endanger Israel's existence.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had suspended annexation plans in the West Bank in 2020 in return for a rapprochement with the United Arab Emirates.