Rubio warns West Bank annexation threatens Trump’s Gaza plan
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the Israeli annexation of the West Bank could derail Donald Trump’s Gaza "peace plan", as tensions rise over settlement expansion.
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks as President Donald Trump meets with Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi during a summit to support ending the more than two-year war on Gaza after a breakthrough ceasefire deal, on October 13, 2025, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that a move by the Israeli Knesset toward annexing parts of the occupied West Bank could jeopardize President Donald Trump's plan to end the war on Gaza. The comments come amid heightened diplomatic efforts to preserve a fragile ceasefire in the besieged enclave.
“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 Wednesday before departing for “Israel”.
The visit marks Rubio’s first to "Israel" as Secretary of State, following closely on the heels of other high-level US engagements aimed at keeping the Trump administration’s 20-point Gaza plan on track.
On the same day, "Israel’s" parliament gave preliminary approval to a bill applying Israeli law to the occupied West Bank, in effect annexing it. A second bill proposing the annexation of the Maale Adumim illegal settlement near occupied al-Quds was also advanced.
US officials push to preserve fragile Gaza truce
Rubio’s visit to “Israel” follows a trip by US Vice President JD Vance, who met with Netanyahu on Wednesday and was expected to hold talks with Security Minister Yoav Gallant and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer before his departure.
The State Department stated that Rubio’s visit aims to support the implementation of Trump’s plan to end the war on Gaza, which remains in a tenuous truce.
Despite the internal political divisions, “Israel’s” illegal settlement expansion has accelerated since Netanyahu returned to power in 2022. His current coalition is considered the most right-wing in the entity’s history, with many lawmakers pressing for permanent control over the West Bank.
Senior Emirati official Anwar Gargash, diplomatic advisor to the UAE president, told the Reuters NEXT Gulf Summit in Abu Dhabi that the Gulf state believed it had already helped avert annexation once. However, concerns persist as right-wing factions in “Israel” push ahead with legislative efforts.
Separately, UAE national security advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan met in Abu Dhabi with US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump advisor Jared Kushner to discuss efforts to stabilize the ceasefire in Gaza and prevent further escalation.
The meeting followed visits by Witkoff and Kushner to occupied Palestine and underscores the growing regional effort to balance normalization with opposition to settlement expansion and annexation in the occupied West Bank.
