UN chief hopes Israel decides against West Bank annexation

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed hope Tuesday that Israel will hear global calls and will not go ahead with annexation of parts of the West Bank, which would undermine a two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The U.N. chief said in an interview with The Associated Press that the United Nations has been consistently conveying the message “that annexation would be not only against international law but it would be a major factor to destabilize the region.”