Joint statement warns that attempted annexation undermines two-state solution and calls for global action
A Palestinian carries the body of his five-month-old brother, Ahmed Al-Nader, who was reportedly killed the previous day along with other members of his family in an Israeli bombing of a school-turned-shelter in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City, before his funeral. PHOTO: AFP
Pakistan and seven other Muslim countries on Monday condemned what they described as Israel’s repeated violations of the ceasefire in Gaza and its “illegal decisions and measures” aimed at imposing illegal sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory, according to a joint statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The statement, issued by the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, rejected Israeli actions to entrench settlement activity and impose a new legal and administrative reality in the occupied West Bank. The ministers said these measures were accelerating illegal annexation attempts and the displacement of the Palestinian people, and reaffirmed that Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory.
The ministers warned that continued Israeli expansionist policies and illegal measures in the occupied West Bank were fueling violence and conflict across the region.
They expressed “absolute rejection” of the actions, calling them a flagrant violation of international law that undermines the two-state solution and attacks the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to establish an independent and sovereign State on the lines of June 4, 1967, with occupied Jerusalem as its capital. The statement said such measures also weaken ongoing efforts for regional peace and stability.
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The foreign ministers said the Israeli measures were “null and void” and in clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions, in particular Resolution 2334, which condemns actions aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem.
They also referred to the 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, which found Israel’s policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territory, as well as its continued presence there, illegal, and affirmed the need to end the occupation and the invalidity of the annexation of occupied Palestinian lands.
The ministers urged the international community to fulfill its legal and moral responsibilities and force Israel to stop what they called a dangerous escalation in the occupied West Bank, as well as to incite statements from Israeli officials.
They stressed that fulfilling the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and statehood, based on the two-State solution in line with international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, remains the only path towards a just and comprehensive peace that guarantees security and stability in the region.
