In a joint regional response, the foreign ministers of Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on Monday denounced recent steps by the Israeli regime in the occupied West Bank.
A statement published on Turkey’s Foreign Ministry website said the measures sought to impose “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 ministers stressed that “Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory,” warning such actions "fuel violence and conflict in the region."
They also expressed “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 al-Quds as its capital.”
"Such actions also undermine the ongoing efforts for peace and stability in the region," the statement added.
The ministers reiterated that the measures are illegal and “null and void,” citing UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which condemns steps aimed at “altering the demographic composition, character, and status of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem al-Quds.”
The statement further referred to the 2024 International Court of Justice advisory opinion finding Israel’s continued presence and policies in the occupied Palestinian territories illegal, stressing the “necessity of ending the Israeli occupation” and affirming the “nullity of the annexation of occupied Palestinian lands.”
They called on the international community to “fulfill its legal and moral responsibilities” and pressure Israel to halt a dangerous escalation in the occupied West Bank.
The ministers added that realizing Palestinian self-determination through a two-state solution based on international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative remains “the only path to achieving just and comprehensive peace” ensuring regional stability.
Regarding the policy trigger, Israel’s Security Cabinet on Sunday approved measures intended to change the legal and civil framework in the occupied West Bank to strengthen Israeli control.
Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reported the steps include repealing a law preventing the sale of Palestinian land to Jews in the West Bank, opening land ownership records, and transferring building-permit authority in a Hebron settlement bloc from a Palestinian municipality to Israel’s civil administration.
Separately, from a Western diplomatic perspective, the United Kingdom also criticized the move by the Israeli regime to expand its control over the occupied territory.
“The UK strongly condemns the Israeli Security Cabinet’s decision yesterday to expand Israeli control over the West Bank,” a spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said Monday.
They said the proposals involved significant changes to land, enforcement and administrative authority in the occupied territory and warned these could have harmful consequences.
“The major changes to land, enforcement, and administrative powers proposed in the West Bank will harm efforts to advance peace and stability," the statement said.
“The UK has been clear: any unilateral attempt to alter the geographic or demographic make-up of Palestine is wholly unacceptable and would be inconsistent with international law. We call on Israel to reverse these decisions immediately," it added.
“A two-state solution remains the only viable path to long-term peace with a safe and secure Israel living alongside a viable and sovereign Palestine,” the statement said.
Reiterating the cabinet action, Israel’s Security Cabinet approved the measures Sunday to alter the legal and administrative structure in the occupied West Bank to reinforce Israeli authority.
KAN reported the decisions include repealing restrictions on land sales to Israeli private individuals, opening land records, and shifting building permit control in a settlement bloc near Hebron from a Palestinian municipality to Israel’s civil administration.