Shafaq News – Washington

US President Donald Trump warned on Thursday that Israel would lose all US support if it had proceeded with annexing the West Bank.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Israeli Knesset approved in a preliminary reading a bill to impose Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank, despite opposition from the United States.

In an interview with Time magazine, Trump stressed that the annexation of the West Bank was never going to happen. “It won't happen because I gave my word to the Arab countries,” he explained, describing his commitment to blocking such a move as a decisive factor that prevented it during his term in office.

The US president also highlighted what he called “the great hostages deal,” describing it as a remarkable single agreement that secured the release of all captives. “Now you go and the big thing, 95% you got the hostages back. Israel was so intent on the hostages, I was actually surprised,” he said.

The ceasefire agreement, signed on October 13 in Cairo, obliges both sides to end hostilities, withdraw from populated areas, and reopen border crossings for humanitarian aid. Under its terms, Hamas released the last 20 hostages captured on October 7, 2023, in exchange for Israel’s release of 1,718 detainees from Gaza and 250 Palestinian prisoners. The deal also required the return of hostages’ bodies to Israel.

Hamas movement, he cautioned, “would face annihilation if it fails to comply with the Gaza agreement,” underscoring that he was “not joking about it.”

Trump further claimed to have halted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from extending military operations, stating that “I stopped him, because he would have just kept going. It could have gone on for years.”