CAIRO, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations and the Arab League (AL) reiterated their rejection of the Israeli intentions to announce annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank, the pan-Arab body said in a statement on Saturday.
AL Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit received a letter from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warning of Israel's plans to further annex Palestinian occupied territories, according to the statement.
"Such a decision would shut the door for negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis and eliminate the chances for the two-state solution," said the UN chief in the letter.
Guterres' letter came in response to one he received from Aboul-Gheit days ago, where the AL chief warned of Israel's exploitation of the global preoccupation with fighting COVID-19 pandemic to carry out its annexation plots, calling on UN to assume its responsibilities in this regard.
Through his Mideast peace plan that was completely rejected by the Palestinians and opposed by most countries of the world, U.S. President Donald Trump gave Israel the green light to annex settlements and strategic parts of the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinians seek to establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital along the pre-1967 borders based on the UN-proposed two-state solution.
The United States, Israel's main backer, officially recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in late 2017 and relocated the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May 2018.
