Israel’s defence chief orders army to prepare to annex West Bank

Israel has ordered its military to prepare for the country's annexation of parts of the West Bank, Defence Minister Benny Gantz has said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to begin Cabinet discussions on July 1 on extending Israeli sovereignty to Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley in the West Bank, occupied territory that Palestinians seek for a state.

Mr Gantz's order on Monday indicated that the centrist politician had signed on to the move or believed it would be inevitable, given right-wing support in the coalition Cabinet led by Mr Netanyahu.

Mr Gantz is due to take the helm as prime minister in 17 months after challenging the incumbent in three deadlocked elections.

He told his Blue and White party of a recent increase in anti-Israeli violence in the West Bank after the Palestinians' declaration last month that they were ending security co-operation with Israel over the annexation.

Mr Gantz said he had ordered the Chief of Staff, Lt Gen Aviv Kochavi, to "examine all the ramifications and required preparations" of moving ahead with the peace plan announced by US President Donald Trump in January.

Settlements in the West Bank 

"Preparations by the Israel Defence Forces should be stepped up ahead of pending diplomatic moves regarding the Palestinians," he later said.

Israel’s defence ministry will establish a team to co-ordinate the military’s moves in the West Bank and the area around the Gaza Strip, Mr Gantz said.

Mr Netanyahu has said that on July 1 he will start the process of establishing sovereignty over 30 per cent of West Bank land.

The Palestinians have rejected Mr Trump's peace plan, under which the vast majority of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, built on land captured in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, would be incorporated into "contiguous Israeli territory".

The Palestinians and most countries consider such settlements to be illegal.

The Trump plan also envisages a Palestinian state under near-complete Israeli security control, creating what Palestinian leaders say would be an unviable country.

"The call of the occupation army to get ready for annexation of the West Bank is a call for war, and the occupation will regret this crime and soon realise they are committing a grave mistake,” Sami Abu Zuhri, an official with Gaza Strip ruler Hamas, told Reuters.

On Sunday, hundreds of people attended the funeral of a Palestinian man who was shot by police in an incident for which Mr Gantz later apologised.

Palestinian officials said Iyad Hallaq, 32, suffered mental health issues and condemned his killing.