WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would not allow Israel to annex the occupied West Bank, after threats by some Israeli ministers to do so to kill any two-state solution.

`I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank,` the US president told reporters in the Oval Office. `No, I will not allow it. It`s not going to happen.

Trump`s response came after he was asked whether he had promised Arab leaders during a meeting at the United Nations this week that he would prevent any annexation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed not to allow a Palestinian state and far-right members of his cabinet have threatened to annex the West Bank in response to the recent recognition of a Palestinian state by several Western countries.

Asked whether he had warned Netanyahu against such a move when they spoke earlier on Thursday, he said: `Yeah, but I`m not going to allow it.

`Whether I spoke to him or not I did, but I`m not allowing Israel to annex the West Bank. There`s been enough. It`s time to stop now.

Trump also expressed optimism about a Gaza deal amid a growing push to end the conflict.

`We spoke with Bibi Netanyahu today, and we spoke to all the leaders in the Middle East who are great people, and we`re getting pretty close to having a deal on Gaza and maybe even peace,` Trump said.

Netanyahu is due to visit the White House on Monday.-AFP