Pakistan, seven other Muslim states condemn Israel’s decision on West Bank lands

ISLAMABAD: The foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar on Tuesday strongly condemned Israel’s decision to designate lands in the occupied West Bank as so-called “state land.”

The foreign ministers, in a joint statement, also condemned Israel’s decision to approve procedures for the registration and settlement of land ownership across extensive areas of the occupied West Bank for the first time since 1967.

The statement described the move as an illegal step and a grave escalation aimed at accelerating settlement expansion, confiscating land, entrenching Israeli control, and imposing unlawful sovereignty over the Occupied Palestinian Territory, thereby undermining the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.

The ministers affirmed that these measures represented a flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention, as well as a violation of relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, foremost among them Resolution 2334.

They further stated that the decision contradicts the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice regarding the legal consequences of Israeli policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

The ICJ opinion underscored the illegality of actions intended to alter the legal, historical, and demographic status of the territory, the obligation to end the occupation, and the prohibition on acquiring territory by force.

“This step reflects an attempt to impose a new legal and administrative reality designed to consolidate control over the occupied land, thereby undermining the two-state solution, eroding the prospects for the establishment of an independent and viable Palestinian State, and jeopardizing the attainment of a just and comprehensive peace in the region.”

The foreign ministers reiterated their categorical rejection of all unilateral measures aimed at altering the legal, demographic, and historical status of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

They stressed that such policies constituted a dangerous escalation that would further heighten tensions and instability in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the region as a whole.

The ministers called upon the international community to assume its responsibilities and take clear and decisive steps to halt these violations.