NEW YORK CITY: Arab and Muslim nations at the UN on Tuesday condemned newly approved Israeli measures that tighten control over the occupied West Bank. The moves amount to a step toward illegal annexation and threaten to fuel wider conflict in the region, they warned.

On Sunday, Israel’s Security Cabinet approved new rules designed to strengthen control over the territory, make it easier for Israeli settlers to buy land there, and give Israeli officials stronger powers to enforce laws on Palestinians.

Speaking on behalf of the UN’s Arab Group, Syrian Ambassador Ibrahim Olabi warned that the measures were an attempt to impose “unlawful Israeli sovereignty” over occupied Palestinian territory.

“The Arab Group condemns in the strongest terms the illegal Israeli decisions and measures aimed at imposing unlawful Israeli sovereignty, entrenching settlement activities, and imposing a new legal and administrative reality in the occupied West Bank,” he said outside the Security Council in New York.

Syria holds the presidency of the UN Arab Group this month, and Olabi spoke in the presence of dozens of representatives of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League.

The new measures represent an acceleration of Israel’s attempts to achieve the “illegal annexation” of the West Bank and the displacement of Palestinians, he said, stressing that “Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory.”

The Arab Group warned that Israel’s “expansionist policies and illegal measures” in the West Bank were contributing to escalating violence and instability across the region.

Olabi said the latest move constituted “a flagrant violation of international law” and an assault on the right of Palestinians to self-determination and statehood based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as their capital.

“These measures undermine the two-state solution and the ongoing efforts to achieve peace and stability in the region,” he added.

The group said the latest decision by Israeli officials was “null and void” and violated UN Security Council resolutions, including Resolution 2334, which condemns Israeli actions that aim to alter the demographic composition and status of territory occupied since 1967.

It also cited a 2024 advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice that concluded the continued presence of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory constituted a “flagrant violation of international law” and the occupation must end.

The Arab Group urged the international community to “assume its legal and moral responsibilities” and compel Israel to halt what it described as a dangerous escalation, reverse its policies and stop what it called inciting statements by Israeli officials.

The group welcomed a statement made by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday, praising his reaffirmation of the illegal nature of settlements and his call for the reversal of Israeli measures that undermine a two-state solution.

The Arab Group’s condemnation came as the Palestinian ambassador to the UN submitted a letter to the Security Council’s president for February, British Ambassador James Kariuki, accusing Israel of “grave breaches of international law,” including violations of Security Council resolutions and a July 2024 advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice.

In that opinion, the court said Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem and Gaza, was unlawful. It called for an end to the occupation, a halt to settlement activity, the evacuation of settlers, and reparations.

The Palestinian ambassador’s letter urged the Security Council to “ensure respect of its resolutions,” and to hold Israel accountable for what it described as “flagrant violations” of the council’s authority and the UN Charter.

It added that the international community was “duty bound” to consider taking action, including imposing sanctions, to compel Israel to reverse its policies, including measures that could lead to annexation.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation also condemned the recent decisions of the Israeli Cabinet, which it said were aimed at “imposing a new reality through colonization and altering the legal status of the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem.”