Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit warned on Thursday against the eruption of a “religious war” over Israeli attempts to annex parts of the occupied West Bank. “Israel’s annexation of Palestinian lands constitutes a new brutal aggression on the Palestinian people and their sovereignty on their territories,” he stressed in a statement. This would be a hostile move against Arab and Islamic nations and would undermine the chances for establishing peace in the region, Aboul Gheit said. He added that this “dangerous development may lead to confrontation and religious wars that the international community shall not allow us to slip into.” “The annexation plan is a blatant violation of international laws and the UN charter.” Aboul Gheit pointed out that the whole world is responsible for defending Palestinian rights. He urged the preservation of the international system that is based on respect for international law and on mutual respect between countries and peoples. The Arab League called for maintaining Arab support for the Palestinian educational process and alleviating the suffering of Palestinian students. This would allow future Palestinian generations to confront and challenge Israel to end its occupation and establish the Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. AL Assistant Secretary General for Palestine and the Occupied Arab Territories Saeed Abu Ali made these remarks during the virtual session of the Educational Programs Committee for Arab students in the occupied Arab territories. Abu Ali affirmed that committee members are determined to continue supporting and following up the developments of the educational process in Palestine, especially in light of the extremely difficult circumstances that Palestine and the entire world are passing through due to the coronavirus outbreak. He pointed to Israel’s policies to exploit the current circumstances and implement its colonial settlement plans by annexing large parts of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley. Israel is preventing the implementation of measures, especially in Jerusalem and its environs, to confront the pandemic, he noted. Abu Ali also highlighted Israel’s continued demolition, displacement, arrest, and targeting of educational and health facilities.