Rocket fire forces Israeli PM to cut short event

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been whisked away from a campaign rally after air raid sirens sounded.

Sirens sounded Tuesday evening warning of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip while Netanyahu was speaking at an event in the southern city of Ashdod.

Netanyahu told the audience to remain calm as his guards led him away.

The Israeli military said it was investigating.

West Bank annex idea denounced

Earlier, world leaders are denouncing Netanyahu’s call to annex large parts of the West Bank in the event he wins the upcoming election.

Stephane Dujarric, a United Nations spokesman, said Tuesday that the organization maintains that any Israeli move to impose its administration over the Palestinian territory “would be devastating to the potential of reviving negotiations, regional peace and the very essence of a two-state solution.”

The Arab League also condemned Netanyahu’s remarks as “a serious development and an Israeli aggression” that, if carried out, amount to “an Israeli declaration for the end of the peace process.”

Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, said in a statement that annexation of Israel’s West Bank settlements would fan the flames of conflict around the region

Netanyahu is in a tight race and has turned to a series of dramatic announcements in recent days as part of a frantic effort to mobilize his supporters.

Netanyahu says Israel must lay out its vision as President Donald Trump prepares to unveil his Mideast peace plan.

Annexing settlements would likely spell the end of any lingering hopes of establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Netanyahu made no mention of what he would do with the territory’s more than 2 million Palestinian residents.