Rubio warns West Bank annexation could endanger Trump's Gaza plan

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned that moves by Israel's parliament toward the annexation of the West Bank could threaten President Donald Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza, which has yielded a shaky ceasefire so far.

"I mean, that’s a vote in the – yeah, that’s a vote in the Knesset, but obviously I think the president’s made clear that’s not something we’d be supportive of right now, and we think it’s potentially threatening to the peace deal," Rubio told reporters late on Wednesday before leaving for Israel.

Rubio's visit is the latest by a senior US official seeking to keep alive the brittle truce between Israel and Hamas after two years of devastating war that has upended the Middle East. Repeated bouts of gunfire and explosions have shaken the deal and the two sides have traded blame for violations of its first phase, which has seen the return of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a handover of bodies of some deceased hostages, and a partial pullout of Israeli troops.

Both sides have reiterated their commitment to the US-mediated ceasefire after two years of war triggered by the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's air and ground war in response has killed over 68,000 people and reduced much of the tiny, heavily urbanised Gaza Strip to rubble, Gaza health authorities say.

HEAVY SHOOTING, SHELLING OVERNIGHT

Overnight, residents reported almost constant heavy gunfire and tank shelling in eastern areas of Khan Younis in southern Gaza and also east of Gaza City in the north of the Palestinian enclave. Gaza health authorities said Israeli drone fire killed one Palestinian in southern Gaza.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the spate of shooting and shelling or the drone fire.

But witnesses said relative calm returned to the coastal territory after daybreak.

The US State Department said Rubio was visiting Israel to support the implementation of Trump's 20-point plan to end Gaza's war and pave the way towards reconstruction, stable governance and possible steps towards Palestinian statehood.

He was preceded by US Vice President JD Vance, who met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday. Vance was due to meet Defence Minister Israel Katz and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer on Thursday before departing.

WEST BANK ANNEXATION MOVE BY ISRAELI PARLIAMENT

A bill applying Israeli law to the occupied West Bank, a move tantamount to annexation of land that Palestinians want for an independent state, won preliminary approval from Israel's parliament on Wednesday.

There are around 500,000 Jewish settlers living in settlements across the West Bank. The United Nations and much of the international community consider the settlements illegal under international law.

Israel's government cites biblical and historical connections to the West Bank, territory that it regards as disputed, and opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state. The settlements are an explosive issue that has for decades been seen as a major obstacle to Middle East peace.

The vote was the first of four needed to pass the law and coincided with Vance's visit to Israel, a month after Trump said that he would not allow Israel to annex the territory it took in the 1967 Middle East war.

Netanyahu's Likud party did not support the legislation, which was put forward by lawmakers outside his ruling coalition and passed by a vote of 25-24 out of 120 lawmakers.

Netanyahu's government had been considering annexation as a response to a string of major Western allies recognising a Palestinian state to put pressure on Israel to stop its war in Gaza, but appeared to scrap the move after Trump objected.

Settlement building has been expanding rapidly since 2022 when Netanyahu's government came to power.