Middle East

Germany, UK, Spain condemn the annexation of the West Bank to Israel

After the lightning visit to the US, Netanyahu's presence is also confirmed at the Board of Peace meeting on 19 February and the Aipac conference on 22 February

10 February 2026

Un pastore palestinese conduce il suo gregge nella valle del Giordano in Cisgiordania, lunedì 9 febbraio 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) Associated Press / LaPresse Only italy and spain

3' min read

Translated by AI

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Key points

The Revelation of Axios
United Kingdom conviction

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu flies to Washington to US President Donald Trump to convince him to take a tougher line in negotiations with Tehran, particularly on Iranian ballistic missiles. But before he even disembarks, he finds the US administration's frost on another dossier on the Wednesday's agenda in the Oval Office: the White House's opposition to the annexation of the West Bank, after the Israeli security cabinet on Sunday approved a set of rules that should allow the Jewish state to extend its control into areas administered by the Palestinian Authority, under the Oslo accords of the 1990s.

This decision was criticised by the EU ('a new step in the wrong direction'), and in particular by the United Kingdom, Spain and Germany, but also by the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Qatar, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and Pakistan, who denounced the imposition of 'a new legal and administrative reality in the occupied West Bank, thus accelerating attempts at its illegal annexation and the displacement of the Palestinian people'.

The move risks undermining phase two of the Gaza plan, on the eve of the first meeting of the Board of Peace on 19 February in Washington, with Indonesia already prepared to mobilise up to eight thousand soldiers. An appointment for which Netanyahu will return again, pressed again and again by new revelations in the Israeli media that as early as April 2018 he had received IDF intelligence reports detailing Hamas' battle plans for a coordinated attack against Israeli military bases and civilian communities in southern Israel.

Media: Idf draws up plans for an offensive in Gaza if Hamas does not disarm

The Israeli armed forces are drawing up plans for a new large-scale offensive in the Gaza Strip with the aim of forcibly disarming Hamas, believing it unlikely that the organisation will voluntarily hand over its weapons. Israeli media report this. Four months after the entry into force of the ceasefire, which envisages the demilitarisation of the Strip and the disarmament of Hamas, there is a growing conviction in Israel's security apparatus that the implementation of the agreement remains uncertain and that without military intervention the group would remain armed and in power, attempting to rebuild its capabilities. According to army assessments, any resumption of hostilities could be more intense and more extensive than in previous phases of the conflict.

on the Gaza front, the Gaza government press office said that only 397 people out of an expected total of 1,600 have crossed the Rafah Crossing since 2 February.

The condemnations of the United Kingdom, Madrid and Germany

"TheUnited Kingdom strongly condemns the decision taken by the Israeli security cabinet on Sunday to extend Israeli control over the West Bank," says the British government. "Any unilateral attempt to alter the geographical or demographic composition of Palestine is wholly unacceptable and would be incompatible with international law. We call on Israel to reverse these decisions immediately,' the British government adds.

The Spanish government has also strongly condemned the latest decisions of the Israeli executive on the West Bank, judged to be contrary to international law and likely to change the status quo in the occupied territories. In a Foreign Ministry note, the Spanish government also criticised the annulment of regulations limiting the acquisition of real estate and the registration of properties, as well as the extension of Israeli jurisdiction over matters such as water management, environmental damage and archaeological sites in areas A and B. According to Madrid, Israel's decisions are contrary to international law and threaten a future Palestinian state. "These measures and any attempt at annexation are unacceptable," it reads, and jeopardise the current efforts to launch the Peace Plan, undermining the ceasefire and increasing the risk of unleashing a new wave of violence.

Thehead of the German representative office in Ramallah, Anke Schlimm, also condemned in a post on X the Israeli security cabinet's decision to allow the purchase of private land and to relocate parts of the administration to the West Bank, particularly to the Hebron area. "The decision violates international law and is a further obstacle to the two-state solution. The West Bank is an integral part of a future Palestinian state,' Schlimm wrote. The statement was joined by German Ambassador to Israel Steffen Seibert, who said he "fully agrees" with his colleague, adding, "The Security Cabinet's decisions violate Israel's obligations under international law."

Ft: Indonesia ready to send troops to Gaza

According to the Financial Times, Indonesia is preparing to send up to 8,000 soldiers to Gaza in support of Donald Trump's proposed peace plan. It would be the first country to publicly commit its soldiers to the mission. General Maruli Simanjuntak, the army's chief of staff, said Indonesia had begun training troops for possible deployment to Gaza and other conflict zones.