UN warns Israel over West Bank annexation plans

The United Nations on Tuesday warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his plan to annex the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank if re-elected would have no "international legal effect".

Netanyahu issued the deeply controversial pledge as he gears up for September 17 elections. He also said Israel would move to annex Israeli settlements throughout the West Bank.

Such moves could effectively kill any remaining hopes for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, long the focus of international diplomacy.

"The secretary-general's position has always been clear: unilateral actions are not helpful in the peace process," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

"Any Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdictions and administration in the occupied West Bank is without any international legal effect," the spokesman added.

"Such a prospect would be devastating to the potential of reviving negotiations, regional peace, and the very essence of a two-state solution." The Jordan Valley accounts for around one-third of the West Bank, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Six-Day War -- a move never recognised by the international community.