Israel’s Smotrich calls for annexation of West Bank

Sub: IR

Sec: Places in news

Context:

Israel’s Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, announced that 2025 would be the year when Israel plans to annex the occupied West Bank.
Smotrich, a member of the Religious Zionist Party (a coalition partner in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government), called on the Israeli government to begin preparing the necessary infrastructure for the annexation.
The statement comes amid a meeting of Arab and Muslim leaders to discuss the ongoing Israeli military actions in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

About West Bank:

The West Bank is a landlocked territory West Asia that forms the main bulk of the Palestinian territories.
It is bordered by Jordan and the Dead Sea to the east and by Israel to the south, west, and north. It falls on the western bank of Jordan river and hence the name West Bank.
Ramallah, the de facto administrative capital of Palestine is situated in West Bank.

Historical Background:

The West Bank was originally part of British Mandate Palestine and was occupied by Jordan after the Arab-Israeli War (1948) but Israel snatched it back during the Six-Day War of 1967 and has occupied it ever since.
Under the Oslo Accords of the 1990s, both Israel and the Palestinians agreed that the status of settlements would be decided by negotiations.
The West Bank, which is internationally considered occupied Palestinian territory, is referred to by Israelis as Judea and Samaria.