ISTANBUL

South Africa has condemned a statement by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that 2025 will be the “year of annexation” of the occupied West Bank.

The statement Wednesday by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation came after Smotrich said he had ordered preparations for the annexation of settlements in the Israeli-occupied territory.

The department emphasized the need for a decisive response by the international community against Israel’s settlement expansion in the Palestinian territories and its provocative policies.

Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reported Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to reintroduce the annexation of the West Bank to the agenda of his government when US President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.

In 2020, Netanyahu planned to annex illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley based on the Middle East peace plan announced by Trump in January of that year.

Territories that Netanyahu planned to annex at that time constituted around 30% of the West Bank. His plan, however, was not realized under international pressure and lack of US approval.

International law views both the West Bank and East Jerusalem as "occupied territories" and considers all Israeli settlement-building activity there illegal.

*Writing by Efe Ozkan