JERUSALEM (AP) — U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Thursday criticized a symbolic vote in Israel’s parliament the previous day about annexing the occupied West Bank, saying that it amounted to an “insult” and went against the Trump administration policies.
Hard-liners in the Israeli parliament had narrowly passed a preliminary vote in support of annexing parts of the West Bank — an apparent attempt to embarrass Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while Vance was still in the country.
The bill, which required only a simple majority of lawmakers present in the house on Wednesday, passed with a 25-24 vote. But it was unlikely to pass multiple rounds of voting to become law or win a majority in the 120-seat parliament. Netanyahu, who is opposed to it, also has tools to delay or defeat it.
Before departing Israel, Vance also unveiled new details about U.S. plans for Gaza, saying he expected reconstruction to begin soon in some “Hamas-free” areas of the territory. But he warned that rebuilding the territory after a devastating war, which began on Oct. 7, 2023, could take years.
“The hope is to rebuild Rafah over the next two to three years and theoretically you could have half a million people live (there),” he said, referring to the Gaza Strip’s southernmost city.
That would account for about a quarter of the territory’s population of roughly 2 million, 90% of whom were displaced from their homes during the war. Out of every 10 buildings that stood in Gaza before the war, eight are either damaged or flattened. An es …