Foreign ministers from 31 Arab and Islamic nations, along with the Secretaries-General of the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), have issued a strongly worded joint statement condemning remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding what he described as a vision for a “Greater Israel.”
The ministers denounced the comments as a flagrant violation of international law, a direct threat to Arab national security, and a destabilizing act with severe implications for regional and global peace.
They stressed that the statements reflect an extreme disregard for established principles of international relations and represent an attempt to impose domination by force.
The statement reiterated that, while Arab and Islamic nations uphold the UN Charter—particularly Article 2, Paragraph 4, which prohibits the use or threat of force—they will adopt all policies and measures necessary to foster and sustain peace, ensuring security, stability, and development for all peoples, far removed from what they described as “illusions of control and power supremacy.”
The foreign ministers also sharply condemned Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s approval of settlement expansion in the sensitive “E1” area and his extremist, anti-Palestinian remarks rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state. They labeled these actions as blatant violations of international law and a direct assault on the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to an independent, sovereign state based on the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The ministers reaffirmed that Israel has no sovereignty over occupied Palestinian territory and rejected all illegal Israeli settlement activities, citing UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which condemns measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character, and legal status of the occupied Palestinian lands, including East Jerusalem.
Citing the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, the statement stressed the illegality of the Israeli occupation, the urgent need for its termination, and the removal of all its consequences. The ministers warned against Israeli policies of annexation, continued settlement expansion in the West Bank, and violations of Muslim and Christian holy sites, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif, alongside settler violence, military raids, and forced displacement. These actions, they said, fuel cycles of violence and undermine any prospects for a just and comprehensive peace.
The statement also renewed a firm rejection of what they described as Israeli war crimes, genocide, and ethnic cleansing in Gaza, demanding an immediate ceasefire and unconditional humanitarian access to end what they called Israel’s “deliberate starvation policy” in the territory. They called for the complete lifting of Israel’s blockade on Gaza, the opening of crossings, and full accountability for the humanitarian collapse in the enclave.
Reaffirming that Gaza is an inseparable part of the occupied Palestinian territories, the ministers urged for the Palestinian Authority to assume governance responsibilities there as in the West Bank, backed by Arab and international support, under the political framework of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
They also called on the international community, particularly permanent members of the UN Security Council, and especially the United States, to fulfill their legal and moral obligations by pressuring Israel to halt its aggression in Gaza and escalation in the West Bank, to end incitement, and to provide international protection for the Palestinian people.
Finally, the ministers reiterated their demand for holding accountable all perpetrators of crimes and violations against the Palestinian people, and for ensuring Palestinians’ full rights, foremost among them the right to establish an independent, sovereign state on their national soil.
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