Josep Borrell
Josep BorrellReuters

The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, on Tuesday urged Israel not to annex the Jordan Valley and warned of Palestinian Arab protests if it did so.

“This may happen ... You can be sure it’s not going to be peaceful,” Borrell told the European Parliament, according to Reuters.

Borrell also reiterated his rejection of parts of US President Donald Trump’s new peace plan for the Middle East, which has been dubbed the “Deal of the Century”.

“The proposals tabled two weeks ago clearly challenge the internationally agreed parameters. It is difficult to see how this initiative can bring both parties back to the table,” said Borrell, who visited Washington last week to discuss the Trump plan with administration officials.

“I made this point to my interlocutors: we need to ask ourselves whether this plan provides a basis for progress or not,” he added, according to Reuters.

Borrell last week criticized Trump's Middle East initiative, saying Israelis and Palestinian Arabs should directly negotiate a two-state solution based on the borders that existed before the 1967 Six Day War.

The US plan "departs from these internationally agreed parameters," Borrell said in a statement in which he added the European Union was "especially concerned" by Prime Minister Binyamin’s Netanyahu's push to apply sovereignty to Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley.

Borrell’s statement was issued after several European nations acted to prevent a declaration on behalf of all 27 members of the EU against the Trump administration's Middle East peace plan.