President Trump on Thursday vowed to block Israel from taking its war with Hamas beyond Gaza – brushing off Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s push to seize parts of the West Bank as nations move to recognize a Palestinian state. 

“I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank,” Trump told reporters firmly in the Oval Office, noting he spoke with Netanyahu earlier in the day. 

“I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen. It’s been enough, it’s time to stop now.” 

The president’s blunt response comes after the Jewish state’s leader and his allies signaled plans to annex part of the occupied West Bank. 

Debate flared in Israel after a wave of nations – including Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia – moved to join 140 others at the United Nations in recognizing the West Bank and Gaza as a Palestinian state. 

Netanyahu has blasted the move, arguing it rewards the Palestinian terror group for the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre in Israel that left over 1,200 dead and 251 kidnapped.

The West Bank, a large stretch of land that lies west of the River Jordan, is home to about three million people and is surrounded on three sides by Israel. 

Israel claims historical and religious rights to the West Bank, describing it as the ancestral land of the Jewish people and the sites of the ancient Biblical kingdoms of Judah and Samaria. 

The territory was ruled by Jordan until Israel seized it in the 1967 Six-Day War, leaving more than two million Palestinians under Israeli military control and limited self-rule by the Palestinian Authority.

Since then, Israelis have built settlements across the West Bank, widely deemed illegal by the international community. 

Trump – who has long-called for a ceasefire between the two war-torn nations – did not elaborate how he would stop Netanyahu from carrying out his annexation plan.

Despite his steadfast plea, the US remains Israel’s strongest backer on the global stage.

Netanyahu is expected to deliver an address to the United Nations on Friday.