Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travelled to a settlement in the occupied West Bank on 17 August and met with leaders of the settlement movement, according to statements released after the visit. The prime minister told the gathering that his government would “deepen” control over what he called the “Land of Israel,” language the participants said referred to extending Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank. Local settlement council heads Yossi Dagan and Shimon Sousan, both members of Netanyahu’s Likud Party, said they pressed the government to move ahead with formal annexation. Far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, who have long advocated expansion of Jewish communities in the territory, have also urged formal incorporation of the area into Israel. Any step toward annexation would run counter to long-standing international consensus that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal and would likely intensify diplomatic friction. The United States and European Union have repeatedly warned that unilateral moves could undermine prospects for a negotiated two-state solution.