Joint statement warns annexation bid undermines two-state solution, urges global action
A Palestinian man carries the body of his 5-month-old brother, Ahmed Al-Nader, who was reportedly killed the previous day along with other family members in an Israeli shelling on a school-turned-shelter in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City, ahead of 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 unlawful sovereignty over occupied Palestinian territory, according to a joint statement issued by the Foreign Office.
The statement, released 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 enforce a new legal and administrative reality in the occupied West Bank. The ministers said these steps were accelerating attempts at illegal annexation and the displacement of the Palestinian people, and reaffirmed that Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory.
The ministers warned that continued expansionist Israeli policies and illegal measures in the occupied West Bank were fuelling violence and conflict across the region.
They expressed “absolute rejection” of the actions, calling them a blatant violation of international law that undermines the two-state solution and assaults the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to establish an independent and sovereign state on the June 4, 1967 lines, with occupied Jerusalem as its capital. The statement said such measures also weaken ongoing efforts for peace and regional 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, particularly Resolution 2334, which condemns actions aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of 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, to be illegal, and affirmed the need to end the occupation and the nullity of annexation of occupied Palestinian lands.
The ministers urged the international community to fulfil its legal and moral responsibilities and to compel Israel to halt what they termed dangerous escalation in the occupied West Bank, as well as inciting statements by Israeli officials.
They stressed that fulfilment of 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 to a just and comprehensive peace that ensures security and stability in the region.
