By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and seven other Muslim-majority nations on Tuesday condemned Israel’s decision to approve land registration in the occupied West Bank for the first time since 1967, calling it a step to accelerate illegal settlement activity and undermine prospects for a two-state solution in the Middle East.
The joint statement, issued by Pakistan’s foreign ministry, said the move violated international law and reflected an attempt to impose Israeli sovereignty over Palestinian territory. Members of Israel’s cabinet voted on Sunday to begin the land registration process in the West Bank, a measure widely seen by Palestinians and critics as aimed at easing land purchases by Jewish settlers and potentially paving the way for annexation. Israeli media reported the process would apply only to Area C, which makes up about 60% of the West Bank and remains under full Israeli security and administrative control.
“The foreign ministers of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, the State of Qatar, the Republic of Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Arab Republic of Egypt, and the Republic of Türkiye strongly condemn the decision issued by Israel to designate lands in the occupied West Bank as so called ‘state land’ and approve procedures for the registration and settlement of land ownership across extensive areas of the occupied West Bank for the first time since 1967,” the statement said. It described the action as an escalation intended to speed up illegal settlement building, confiscate land and extend unlawful Israeli control over Palestinian areas, adding that it infringed on the legitimate rights of Palestinians. “This step reflects an attempt to impose a new legal and administrative reality designed to consolidate control over the occupied land, thereby undermining the two-state solution, eroding the prospects for the establishment of an independent and viable Palestinian State, and jeopardizing the attainment of a just and comprehensive peace in the region.”
The ministers said Israel’s policies breached international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention and United Nations Security Council resolutions, and posed a “dangerous escalation” that could heighten tensions and instability in Palestine and the broader Middle East. They urged the international community to adopt “clear and decisive” measures to stop Israel’s violations, uphold international law and protect Palestinian rights.
The condemnation follows a series of steps by Israel’s security cabinet earlier this month, backed by far-right ministers, to strengthen control over West Bank areas administered by the Palestinian Authority (PA) under the 1990s Oslo accords. Those included provisions for Jewish Israelis to buy land directly in the territory and for Israeli oversight of certain religious sites in PA-controlled zones, drawing widespread international criticism.
Israel’s ruling coalition includes several pro-settler figures who advocate annexing the West Bank, land seized in the 1967 Middle East war that Israel links to biblical and historical claims. Palestinians want the territory, along with Gaza and East Jerusalem, for an independent state. The West Bank, excluding Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, hosts more than 500,000 Israeli settlers in communities deemed illegal under international law, alongside about 3 million Palestinians. Much of the area falls under Israeli military rule, with the PA exercising limited self-governance in enclaves.
Separately, Pakistan’s foreign office said Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar would travel to New York on Feb. 18 to attend a high-level UN Security Council briefing on the Palestinian situation, chaired by Britain’s foreign secretary in the council’s presidency role. In the briefing, Dar would restate Pakistan’s longstanding stance on Palestine, the office said. “He will reiterate Pakistan’s strong opposition of Israel’s recent illegal decisions to expand its control over the West Bank, emphasise the need for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, full implementation of Security Council resolution 2803, scaled-up humanitarian assistance, and the early commencement of Gaza’s recovery and reconstruction,” the foreign office statement said.
Resolution 2803, passed on Nov. 17, backed a peace framework for Gaza proposed by US President Donald Trump in October. The plan outlined a transitional period with a Palestinian technocratic administration supervised by an international board, involving Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Dar would also highlight Pakistan’s ongoing collaboration with global and regional partners, including the group of eight Arab and Islamic nations and the United States, to promote a peace rooted in international law and realising Palestinian self-determination, the statement added. It said Dar would stress the need for an “independent, sovereign and contiguous Palestinian State based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.”
On the sidelines, Dar planned bilateral talks with counterparts on shared concerns. The eight nations issuing Tuesday’s joint statement had previously cooperated with the Trump administration on a Gaza plan last year aimed at halting Israel’s military actions there. Pakistan issued its own condemnation on Monday, urging global rejection of Israel’s West Bank moves, which come amid reports of Israeli ceasefire breaches in Gaza.
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
