The foreign ministers of Pakistan and seven other countries condemned on Monday what they described as Israel’s repeated violations of the Gaza ceasefire and its policies in the occupied West Bank, according to a joint statement.
The statement was issued by Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and signed by the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The ministers denounced Israeli decisions they said were aimed at imposing unlawful sovereignty, expanding settlement activity and enforcing new legal and administrative measures in the occupied West Bank.
They warned that such actions were accelerating what they described as attempts at the illegal annexation of Palestinian territory and the displacement of the Palestinian people.
The ministers reaffirmed that Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territories and said continued expansionist policies and what they termed illegal measures were fueling violence and instability across the region.
Expressing their “absolute rejection” of the measures, the foreign ministers said they violate international law, undermine the two-state solution and infringe on what they called the inalienable right of Palestinians to establish an independent and sovereign state.
They said such a state should be based on the June 4, 1967 borders, with occupied Jerusalem as its capital.
The statement said Israel’s actions in the occupied West Bank are null and void, citing violations of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2334, which condemns attempts to alter the demographic composition and status of Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem.
The ministers also referred to a 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, which declared Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory illegal and affirmed the nullity of annexation of Palestinian lands.
They renewed calls on the international community to fulfill what they described as legal and moral responsibilities by compelling Israel to halt what they termed a dangerous escalation in the occupied West Bank, as well as inflammatory statements by Israeli officials.
The ministers said the realization of Palestinian rights to self-determination and statehood, based on the two-state solution and in line with international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, remains the only viable path to a just and comprehensive peace.
Israel to expand its control in West Bank
The statement followed reports that Israel’s security cabinet approved steps on Sunday to make it easier for settlers in the occupied West Bank to buy land and to grant Israeli authorities expanded enforcement powers over Palestinians.
Israeli media reported that the measures included scrapping decades-old regulations preventing Jewish private citizens from purchasing land in the West Bank.
Israeli news sites Ynet and Haaretz, citing statements by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz, said the steps also included allowing Israeli authorities to administer some religious sites.
They said the measures would expand supervision and enforcement in areas under Palestinian Authority administration, including matters related to environmental hazards, water offenses and damage to archaeological sites.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the measures were dangerous, illegal and amounted to de facto annexation.
The measures come three days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet in Washington with U.S. President Donald Trump.
In a statement, Abbas urged Trump and the U.N. Security Council to intervene.
Trump has ruled out Israeli annexation of the West Bank, but his administration has not sought to curb Israel’s accelerated settlement building, which Palestinians say undermines prospects for a future state.
Netanyahu, who is facing an election later this year, considers the establishment of a Palestinian state a security threat.
His ruling coalition includes pro-settler members who support annexing the West Bank, territory captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and claimed by Israel on biblical and historical grounds.
The United Nations’ highest court said in a nonbinding advisory opinion in 2024 that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and the settlements there are illegal and should end as soon as possible. Israel disputes that view.
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