“Void and null”: Eight Arab and Islamic countries condemn Israel’s actions in the West Bank

Dubai, United Arab Emirates ( CNN)Eight Arab and Islamic countries condemned recent Israeli moves to tighten control over the occupied West Bank , considering them an attempt to annex the land and displace its inhabitants.

Ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington this week, Israel announced on Sunday a series of sweeping steps to tighten its grip on the occupied West Bank.

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Indonesia, Pakistan and Turkey said that “illegal Israeli decisions and actions” aimed at “imposing illegal Israeli sovereignty,” entrenching settlements, and imposing a new legal and administrative reality in the occupied West Bank, are accelerating attempts to illegally annex it and displace the Palestinian people.

The ministers reiterated in the statement that “Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory.”

The statement indicated that the Israeli measures “constitute a flagrant violation of international law, undermine the two-state solution, and represent an attack on the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent and sovereign state.”

The foreign ministers of the countries concerned warned against the continuation of Israeli expansionist policies and illegal measures taken by Israel in the occupied West Bank, which fuel violence and conflict in the region.

The ministers also stressed in the statement that “these measures undermine ongoing efforts to achieve peace and stability in the region,” and affirmed that these “illegal” measures in the occupied West Bank are “null and void,” and constitute a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions, particularly Resolution 2334, which condemns all Israeli measures aimed at changing 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 concluded that Israel’s policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territory, and its continued presence therein, are illegal.

The foreign ministers of the eight countries renewed their call for the international community to assume its legal and moral responsibilities and compel Israel to halt its dangerous escalation in the occupied West Bank and the inflammatory statements of its officials.

In a separate statement, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said on Monday: “Egypt condemns in the strongest terms the decisions approved by Israel that aim to deepen the illegal annexation plan of Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank, including removing the secrecy surrounding the Israeli annexation plan, facilitating the seizure of Palestinian property, and transferring the powers of the Hebron municipality, including the Ibrahimi Mosque, to the occupation authorities.”

The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs added in its statement: “Egypt affirms that these decisions represent a flagrant violation of international law and legitimate international resolutions, and are completely inconsistent with the existing legal and historical situation, and clearly contradict the 1993 Oslo Accords, and practically aim to consolidate the reality of annexation, expand settlements and impose full Israeli control over Palestinian territories.”

On Sunday, Israel’s security cabinet approved measures that expand the country’s law enforcement powers and allow the state to purchase land to expand settlements in a way that far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said would “fundamentally change the legal and civil reality” in the West Bank.

According to the United Nations and the international community, these lands are considered part of a future Palestinian state.

Israeli measures include expanding the application of Israeli law in Areas A and B of the West Bank, which were designated under the Oslo Accords as areas under Palestinian administrative control. These two areas together constitute approximately 40% of the land.