The foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar strongly condemned Israel’s decision to classify lands in the occupied West Bank as so-called “state lands” and to begin broad procedures for land registration and settlement for the first time since 1967.
In a joint statement issued Tuesday by Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the ministers described the move as an illegal and dangerous escalation aimed at accelerating settlement expansion, confiscating Palestinian land and entrenching Israeli control over occupied territory.
The statement warned that the measure seeks to impose what it called unlawful Israeli sovereignty over Palestinian land, undermining the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and altering the legal and historical status of the territory.
The ministers stressed that the decision constitutes a “flagrant violation” of international law and international humanitarian law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention. They also cited violations of relevant UN resolutions, foremost among them United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, which calls on Israel to cease settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The joint statement further referenced the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice regarding the legal consequences of Israeli policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territory. The court’s opinion emphasized the illegality of measures aimed at changing the legal, demographic and historical character of the territory and underscored the obligation to end the occupation and refrain from acquiring land by force.
According to the ministers, the latest Israeli decision represents an attempt to impose a new legal and administrative reality in the occupied West Bank, threatening the viability of the two-state solution and diminishing prospects for the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state.
They reiterated their categorical rejection of unilateral measures that alter the legal and demographic status of occupied Palestinian land, warning that such policies risk further instability and heightened tensions across the region.
The ministers called on the international community to assume its responsibilities by taking clear and decisive steps to halt what they described as violations, ensure respect for international law and safeguard the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people — including their right to self-determination, the end of occupation and the establishment of an independent state along the June 4, 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital.
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