RIYADH: The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and several other Muslim countries warned against the continuation of Israel’s expansionist policies and illegal measures in the occupied West Bank on Monday.
The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkiye strongly condemned new Israeli measures to tighten control of the West Bank and pave the way for more settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Israel approved the measures, announced by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defence Minister Israel Katz, on Sunday. They include allowing Jewish Israelis to buy West Bank land.
The Israeli measures also envisage transferring authority over building permits for settlements in parts of Palestinian cities, including Hebron, from the Palestinian Authority’s municipalities to Israel.
The foreign ministers reaffirmed that Israel has no sovereignty over occupied Palestinian territory and said such measures undermine ongoing efforts to achieve peace and stability in the region.
The ministers expressed their absolute rejection of these illegal measures, which constitute a flagrant violation of international law, undermine the two-state solution, and represent an attack on the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent and sovereign state within June 1967 borders, with occupied East Jerusalem as its capital.
They said that the measures are null and void, and constitute a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions, particularly Resolution 2334, which condemns all Israeli measures aimed at changing the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem.
The added that the measures also contradict a 2024 International Court of Justice advisory opinion, which concluded that Israel’s policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territory and its continued presence therein are illegal.
The ministers reiterated their call for the international community to uphold its legal and moral responsibilities and compel Israel to halt its dangerous escalation in the occupied West Bank and inflammatory statements made by its officials.
They emphasized that fulfilling the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the establishment of their state, based on the two-state solution and in accordance with international law and the Arab Peace Initiative, is the only way to achieve a just and comprehensive peace that guarantees security and stability in the region.
