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EU warns of violence if Israel annexes Jordan Valley

“The proposals tabled two weeks ago challenge internationally agreed parameters,” said European Union diplomat Josep Borrell. “It is difficult to see how this initiative can bring both parties back to the table.”

Josep Borrell
European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell in Brussels, Oct. 7, 2019. Credit: European Parliament via Wikimedia Commons.

The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, sent a message to Israel on Tuesday not to annex the Jordan Valley in the West Bank or else Palestinians could resort to violence.

“This may happen. ... You can be sure it’s not going to be peaceful,” Borrell told the European Parliament, reported Reuters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday that he plans to annex the valley if he wins re-election in the March 2 elections.

Borrell also made clear his rejection of parts of U.S. President Donald Trump’s new peace plan meant to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“The proposals tabled two weeks ago clearly challenge the internationally agreed parameters. It is difficult to see how this initiative can bring both parties back to the table,” Borrell said, according to the report. “I made this point to my [U.S.] interlocutors: We need to ask ourselves whether this plan provides a basis for progress or not.”

The Mideast proposal, named “Peace to Prosperity,” would allow Israel to implement sovereignty in settlements in Judea and Samaria.

“I think the only advice I have is deal with allegations as soon as you’re made aware, as we did,” the Montgomery County Republican Party committee chairman told JNS. “For both parties. Better to correct errors than stay the course.”
The Israeli prime minister plans to meet with the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Panama and Ethiopia, as well as the prime ministers of Greece, Slovenia and Papua New Guinea.
António Guterres said there’s an “onslaught” on Gazans “with a scale of killing and destruction unlike anything I have witnessed in all my years as secretary-general.”
King Abdullah II’s father, King Hussein, cracked down on the PLO in 1970 and revoked the citizenship of Palestinians in Judea and Samaria in 1988.