Muslim countries condemn Israel’s 'unlawful' measures in occupied West Bank

The foreign ministers of Türkiye, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates strongly condemned Israel's recent measures in the occupied West Bank on Monday.

In a statement posted on the Turkish Foreign Ministry's official website, they said the measures aimed at imposing "unlawful Israeli sovereignty, entrenching settlement activity, and enforcing a new legal and administrative reality in the occupied West Bank, thereby accelerating attempts at its illegal annexation and the displacement of the Palestinian people."

The statement emphasized that "Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory," underlining that such actions "fuel violence and conflict in the region."

The statement further said the ministers voiced "their absolute rejection of these illegal actions, which constitute a blatant violation of international law, undermine the two-state solution, and represent an assault on the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to realize their independent and sovereign state on the 4 June 1967 lines, with occupied Jerusalem as its capital."

"Such actions also undermine the ongoing efforts for peace and stability in the region," the statement added.

The ministers reaffirmed that Israel's actions in the occupied West Bank are illegal, "null and void," and constitute a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions, particularly Resolution 2334, which condemns all Israeli measures aimed at "altering the demographic composition, character, and status of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem."

The statement also cited the 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, which found that Israel's policies and continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegal, stressed the "necessity of ending the Israeli occupation," and confirmed the "nullity of the annexation of occupied Palestinian lands."

They urged the international community to "fulfill its legal and moral responsibilities" and pressure Israel to stop its dangerous escalation in the occupied West Bank.

The statement further stressed that fulfilling the Palestinian people's legitimate rights to self-determination and statehood, based on the two-state solution, international resolutions, and the Arab Peace Initiative, remains "the only path to achieving just and comprehensive peace" that ensures security and stability in the region.

Israel's Security Cabinet on Sunday approved measures aimed at changing the legal and civil framework in the occupied West Bank to strengthen Israeli control.

Israel's public broadcaster KAN reported that the decisions include repealing a law barring the sale of Palestinian land to Jews in the West Bank, unsealing land ownership records, and transferring building permit authority in a Hebron settlement bloc from the Palestinian municipality to Israel's civil administration.