KEY POINTS
- US warned that Israel’s moves could derail a fragile Gaza ceasefire and Trump’s peace plan.
- Rubio and Vance criticised the Knesset’s annexation bills, calling them “counterproductive” and a “political stunt.”
TEL AVIV/WASHINGTON: Senior US officials warned on Thursday that moves by Israeli lawmakers to advance bills applying Israeli law to parts of the occupied West Bank risked derailing a fragile US-brokered ceasefire and the next phase of a US peace plan for Gaza.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the preliminary parliamentary votes were “not something we can be supportive of right now” and warned they could be “threatening” to the truce and the wider peace process.
The warnings came as US Vice-President J.D. Vance, concluding a visit to Israel, called the Knesset votes “a very stupid political stunt” and said President Donald Trump’s policy was that “the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel.” Vance said he felt “insulted” by the timing of the votes.
The Knesset advanced two bills in preliminary readings on Wednesday — one that would apply Israeli occupation to Ma’ale Adumim and a wider text proposing to extend Israeli law across parts of the occupied West Bank.
The measures passed by narrow margins and must clear further committee scrutiny and three more readings to become law.
Risk to fragile Gaza ceasefire
Rubio, travelling to Israel to ensure implementation of a multi-stage US plan for Gaza, said annexation moves could jeopardise efforts to move to the second phase of the plan, which envisages an interim Gaza authority, withdrawal of Israeli forces and deployment of an international stabilisation force.
“At this time, it’s something that we… think might be counterproductive,” he told reporters.
US officials have been pressing Israeli and regional partners to protect the ceasefire that has allowed hostage releases, the return of some bodies and limited humanitarian flows.
They say any step that inflames tensions in the West Bank could ruin support from Arab and Muslim countries needed to provide personnel and funds for a stabilisation force in Gaza.
Palestinian and regional condemnation
The Palestinian foreign ministry in Ramallah condemned the Knesset move, saying it “strongly rejects the Knesset’s attempts to annex Palestinian land” and reaffirming that the occupied West Bank and Gaza constitute a single geographic unit over which Israel has no sovereignty, the official Wafa news agency reported.
Jordan also described the Israeli parliament votes as a blatant violation of international law.
International rights bodies and many governments consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law. The latest parliamentary action drew strong criticism from across the region and beyond.
Pakistan on Thursday strongly condemned Israel’s attempt to extend its so-called “sovereignty” over parts of the occupied West Bank, including illegal settlements, through a draft law introduced in the occupying power’s legislature, calling the move a flagrant breach of international law and relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
In a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Pakistan said such “provocative and unlawful measures” undermine efforts to achieve peace and stability, and urged the international community to take urgent, decisive steps to halt the move and hold the Israeli occupying forces to account for continuing violations.
Reaffirming long-standing policy, Pakistan pledged to work with regional and international partners to uphold the rights of Palestinians, including the right to self-determination, and reiterated support for an independent, sovereign, viable and contiguous State of Palestine on pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
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Pakistan Strongly Condemns Israeli Moves Undermining Palestinian Sovereignty https://t.co/xUzE3GlRGM pic.twitter.com/ySISpzT8CA
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) October 23, 2025
Rising violence in West Bank and Gaza toll
The move on annexation comes amid heightened violence across the occupied Palestinian territories and a catastrophic toll in Gaza after a two-year Israeli bombardment campaign since October 7, 2023.
Gaza’s health authorities report more than 68,300 people have been killed in the Israeli bombardment campaign, figures that United Nations agencies and humanitarian organisations say reflect the scale of the crisis.
United Nations and aid officials have repeatedly warned that further instability in the West Bank and any undermining of the ceasefire would exacerbate humanitarian suffering and complicate reconstruction and stabilisation plans.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior ministers have in recent days sought to defuse tensions with the US as Washington presses for the preservation of the truce and a smooth transition to the next phase of the Gaza plan.
