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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - The Jordanian foreign minister said on Thursday that the sole way to the Middle East peace is ending the Israeli occupation and achieving the two-state solution, state-run Petra news agency reported.

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"Israel's attempts to impose a new reality on the ground kill opportunities for sustainable peace," Ayman Safadi said, adding regional peace cannot be realized without resolving the conflict in a way that maintains Palestinians' rights of statehood and freedom.

"Just, lasting and comprehensive peace is a ... strategic choice that Jordan, along with the international community, will keep working on," said the minister.

On Israeli plans to annex the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea area, he said such a step would undermine peace efforts and the two-state solution.

"Israeli measures, including the announcement of intentions to annex the Jordan Valley and the northern part of the Dead Sea area, are illegal practices that violate international law and destroy hopes of peace," said Safadi.

Arab League condemns Israeli remarks on annexing parts of West Bank

Arab League (AL) Secretary General Ahmed Abul Gheit condemned on Thursday the recent Israeli remarks on the planned annexation of parts of the West Bank.

"Those remarks reflect an unprecedented level of political recklessness among Israeli leaders," Abul Gheit said in a statement.

On Tuesday, Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz vowed to annex the Jordan Valley in coordination with the international community if he wins the upcoming election.

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He deemed the area making up roughly 20 percent of the West Bank would remain part of the Jewish state in any future peace agreement.

Abul Gheit warned against the grave danger of throwing the Palestinian issue into the battle of electoral tricks.

The Israeli announcement will have "no practical effect of the legal status of the occupied lands," he said, noting that it will only lead to further escalation and undermine the chances of reaching a peaceful solution in the future.

The last round of peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians broke down in 2014 amid Israeli expansion of the settlements in the West Bank.

Israel seized the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and has since controlled or blockaded them despite international criticism.

*Xinhua