Vance brands Israel’s parliament vote on West Bank annexation ‘an insult’

US vice president JD Vance has criticised Israel’s parliament vote on West Bank annexation, saying it amounted to an “insult”.

Mr Vance’s scathing remark came as his visit to the country wrapped up on Thursday and after US secretary of state Marco Rubio said he would be travelling to Israel.

Mr Vance’s words and the intense diplomacy indicate that US President Donald Trump’s administration was intent on keeping up the momentum on the US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Speaking on the tarmac of Tel Aviv’s international airport before departing Israel, Mr Vance said that if the Knesset vote was a “political stunt, then it is a very stupid political stunt”.

“I personally take some insult to it,” Mr Vance said.

“The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel.”

Earlier this week, Mr Vance announced the opening of a civilian military coordination centre in southern Israel where some 200 US troops are working alongside the Israeli military and delegations from other countries planning the stabilisation and reconstruction of Gaza.

Mr Rubio told journalists at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday that he plans to visit the centre and appoint a Foreign Service official to work alongside the top US military commander in the Middle East, Vice Admiral Brad Cooper.

The US is seeking support from other allies, especially Gulf Arab nations, to create an international stabilisation force to be deployed to Gaza and train a Palestinian force.

“We’d like to see Palestinian police forces in Gaza that are not Hamas and that are going to do a good job, but those still have to be trained and equipped,” he said.

Mr Rubio also criticised efforts by far-right politicians in the Israeli parliament who on Wednesday took the symbolic step of giving preliminary approval to a bill that would give Israel authority to annex the occupied West Bank — a move the US opposes.

Mr Trump “has made clear that’s not something we’d be supportive of right now, and we think it’s potentially threatening to the peace deal”, he said.

The bill passed in a 25-24 vote.

It is unclear whether the bill has support to win a majority in the 120-seat parliament, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tools to delay or defeat it.

– Vance visits Holy Sepulchre

Meanwhile, Mr Vance visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the sprawling 12th century basilica where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, died and rose again, in Jerusalem’s Old City.

He is then expected to meet Israel’s defence minister, Israeli military leaders and other officials at the army’s headquarters in Tel Aviv.

On Wednesday, Mr Vance sought to ease concerns that the Trump administration was dictating terms to its closest ally in the Middle East.

“We don’t want in Israel a vassal state, and that’s not what Israel is. We want a partnership, we want an ally,” Mr Vance said, speaking beside Mr Netanyahu, in response to a reporter’s question about whether Israel was becoming a “protectorate” of the US.

Mr Netanyahu, who will meet with Mr Rubio as well, expressed similar sentiments while acknowledging differences of opinion as they push forward the US-proposed ceasefire agreement.

Israeli media referred to the non-stop parade of American officials visiting to ensure Israel holds up its side of the fragile ceasefire as “Bibi-sitting”.

The term, utilising Mr Netanyahu’s nickname of Bibi, refers to an old campaign ad when Mr Netanyahu positioned himself as the “Bibi-sitter” whom voters could trust with their kids.

– Palestinians in Gaza in dire need of medical care

In the first medical evacuation since the ceasefire began on October 10, the head of the World Health Organisation said on Thursday they had evacuated 41 critical patients and 145 companions out of the Gaza strip.

In a statement posted to X, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on nations to show solidarity and help some 15,000 patients who are still waiting for approval to receive medical care outside Gaza.

His calls were echoed by an official with the UN Population Fund who, on Wednesday, described the “sheer devastation” that he witnessed on his most recent travel to Gaza, saying that there is no such thing as a “normal birth in Gaza now”.