Channel 7 reported that Johnson visited the Ariel settlement, built on Palestinian land in the West Bank, and claimed during the visit that the West Bank "belongs to the Jewish people."
The Hebrew channel noted that a high-level American delegation headed by Johnson visited the Ariel settlement with the aim of strengthening strategic relations between Washington and Tel Aviv and deepening knowledge of the West Bank.
She continued, "Johnson is the third most important figure in the US government, according to the US Constitution, and the highest-ranking official to visit the West Bank in an official capacity."
During the visit, Johnson participated in a tree-planting event in the settlement, alongside 15 other members of the US Congress, according to the Hebrew channel, which claimed that "the visit symbolizes the partnership between the two countries and supports the right of the people of Israel to sovereignty over their land."
In a speech during the visit, Johnson said: "Every corner of this country is important to us, and being here in the cradle of our faith is of utmost importance."
The channel quoted Yair Shtavon, Mayor of Ariel, as saying: "We are at a historic moment of shared values, deep friendship, and strong partnership between the United States and Israel, and between the United States and Judea and Samaria, the cradle of Jewish history."
"Encouraging settlement crimes"
In contrast, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced Johnson's visit to the Ariel settlement in the central West Bank, expressing its rejection of his "inflammatory statements calling for the annexation of the West Bank."
The statement considered that "these statements constitute a flagrant violation of international law, international legitimacy resolutions, and Arab and American efforts to stop the war and the cycle of violence and achieve calm, and they encourage the crimes of settlements, settlers, and the confiscation of Palestinian lands."
He stressed that "this indicates a clear contradiction with the declared American position on settlements and settler attacks," noting that "the settlements as a whole are invalid and illegitimate and undermine the opportunity to implement the two-state solution and achieve peace."
The United Nations considers settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories illegal, warns that they undermine the chances of resolving the conflict based on the principle of a two-state solution (Palestinian and Israeli), and has called for a halt to them for years, but to no avail.
In parallel with the genocide in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army and settlers escalated their attacks in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, resulting in the deaths of at least 1,013 Palestinians, the injury of approximately 7,000, and the arrest of more than 18,500, according to Palestinian data.
Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 210,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 9,000 missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands of displaced persons, and a famine that has claimed the lives of many.
