ISLAMABAD, Feb 9 (APP): The Foreign Ministers of Islamic and Arab countries, Monday, condemned in the strongest terms the illegal Israeli decisions and measures aimed at imposing unlawful Israeli sovereignty, entrenching settlement activity and enforcing a new legal and administrative reality in the occupied West Bank.
They also reaffirmed that Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory.
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, the Republic of Indonesia, the Republic of Turkiye, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the State of Qatar, in their joint statement termed these illegal acts as ‘accelerating attempts at its illegal annexation and the displacement of the Palestinian people.’
The ministers warned against the continued expansionist Israeli policies and illegal measures pursued by the Israeli government in the occupied West Bank, which fueled violence and conflict in the region, the joint statement shared by the Foreign Office Spokesperson with media, said.
“The Ministers 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 as its capital,” it was reiterated. Such actions also undermined the ongoing efforts for peace and stability in the region.
The ministers affirmed that these illegal measures in the occupied West Bank were null and void and constituted a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions, particularly Resolution 2334, which condemned all Israeli measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character, and status of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, as well as the 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, which found that Israel’s policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territory and its continued presence was illegal, affirmed the necessity of ending the Israeli occupation, and the nullity of the annexation of occupied Palestinian lands.
“They renewed their call on the international community to fulfill its legal and moral responsibilities and to compel Israel to halt its dangerous escalation in the occupied West Bank and the inciting statements of its officials,” the statement added.
They also stressed that the fulfillment of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and statehood, based on the two-state solution in accordance with resolutions of international legitimacy and the Arab Peace Initiative, remains the only path to achieving just and comprehensive peace that ensures security and stability in the region.