Israeli minister calls West Bank control measures ‘de facto sovereignty’

Palestinians, Arab countries and human rights groups have called the moves announced on Sunday an annexation of the territory, home to roughly 3.4 million Palestinians who seek it for a future state

An Israeli checkpoint between Israel and the West Bank near the West Bank village of Nilin Picture: Nasser Nasser/AP

A top Israeli official said on Tuesday that measures adopted by the government that deepen Israeli control in the occupied West Bank amounted to implementing “de facto sovereignty”.

The steps “actually establish a fact on the ground that there will not be a Palestinian state”, Energy Minister Eli Cohen told Israel’s Army Radio, using language that mirrors critics’ warnings about the intent behind the moves.