US, Trump Warn Israel Against West Bank Annexation

President Donald Trump warned Israel that annexing parts of the occupied West Bank would not be allowed and that Israel could lose U.S. support, saying he had given his word to Arab countries. Visiting Secretary of State Marco Rubio cautioned that annexation would be "threatening" and "counterproductive" to the fragile, U.S.-backed Gaza ceasefire and said he was cautiously confident the truce could hold after meetings in Israel. Israel’s Knesset gave preliminary approval to a bill extending sovereignty over parts of the West Bank in a narrow 25–24 vote (with many abstentions) and separately passed a Maale Adumim annexation bill 31–9, moves Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a political provocation. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, also in Israel to advance the ceasefire plan, condemned the votes as a "stupid political stunt" and an "insult" that runs counter to U.S. policy. Arab and Muslim states warned annexation was a red line, while critics cited international-law concerns and an earlier International Court of Justice finding, saying unilateral annexation would jeopardize the ceasefire, complicate aid and reconstruction in Gaza, and undermine prospects for a two-state solution.