RIYADH: The Muslim World League has condemned a plan by the Israeli government to double the population of the annexed Golan Heights.

The MWL “urged the international community to condemn and take action against the ongoing Israeli violations, which sabotage the prospects for the Syrian people to restore their security and stability after enduring years of injustice and suffering,” the organization said in a statement on Sunday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that the government had “unanimously approved” the $11 million “plan for the demographic development of the Golan... in light of the war and the new front in Syria and the desire to double the population.”

The MWL statement emphasized the “imperative of respecting Syria's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the safety of its citizens.”

The UAE also condemned Israeli government’s decision to expand settlements in the occupied Golan Heights, state news agency WAM reported.

In a statement, the UAE’s foreign ministry its commitment to the “unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the Syrian state, emphasizing that this decision is a deliberate effort to expand the occupation and is in violation and contravention of international law.”

The ministry also underscored the “UAE’s categorial rejection of all measures and practices aimed at altering the legal status of the Occupied Golan Heights, and that threaten the security, stability and sovereignty of Syria.”

The Golan is home to 24,000 Druze, an Arab minority who practice an offshoot of Islam. Most identify as Syrian.

— with input from AFP