A total or partial annexation of the West Bank by Israel “would constitute a most serious violation of international law,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned, denouncing statements by Israeli officials suggesting such a move, AFP reports.

“I am deeply concerned about an existential threat to the integrity and contiguity of the occupied Palestinian territory of Gaza and the West Bank,” he told a United Nations Security Council meeting on the Middle East, citing “Israeli administrative changes” over the past two years.