Israel State Land Move In West Bank Condemned By Regional Foreign Ministers

The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt and Türkiye condemned Israel’s decision to classify large areas of the occupied West Bank as so-called "state land", warning that the move threatens prospects for peace and undermines Palestinian rights under international law and existing United Nations resolutions.

The ministers said the land designation, together with new procedures for registering and settling ownership, aims to speed up settlement activity and land seizure across extensive parts of the occupied West Bank, entrenching Israeli control over the Occupied Palestinian Territory and weakening any realistic chance for a viable and independent Palestinian State.

They stressed that these measures represent a clear breach of international law and international humanitarian law, highlighting in particular the Fourth Geneva Convention, which regulates conduct in occupied territories, and relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, especially Resolution 2334, which calls for a halt to settlement activity and rejects changes to borders set in 1967.

The foreign ministers added that Israel’s step contradicts the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences of Israeli policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, noting that the Court underlined the illegality of attempts to change the legal, historical and demographic status of the territory and reaffirmed the ban on acquiring land by force.

According to the ministers, turning West Bank areas into "state land" for the first time since 1967 signals an effort to impose a new legal and administrative system over the occupied land, solidifying control and eroding the two-state solution, which they said jeopardises the possibility of a just and comprehensive regional peace.

The foreign ministers restated their complete rejection of any unilateral actions that seek to change the legal, demographic or historical character of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, warning that such policies form a dangerous escalation that risks further tension and instability, both within the territory itself and in the wider region surrounding it.

They urged the international community to act decisively to halt these violations, ensure respect for international law and protect the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to self-determination, the ending of the occupation and the establishment of an independent, sovereign Palestinian State on the 4 June 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

With inputs from SPA