Knesset West Bank annexation vote draws Arab-Islamic condemnation
Shafaq News – West Bank
Ten Arab and Muslim countries, along with the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, condemned the Israeli Knesset’s approval of a bill to impose Israeli sovereignty over the occupied West Bank.
A joint statement—released by the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Nigeria, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, the Arab League, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation—strongly denounced the Knesset’s ratification of what it described as a declaration to enforce so-called "Israeli sovereignty" over the occupied West Bank.
The signatories called the move a blatant and unacceptable violation of international law and a clear breach of relevant UN Security Council resolutions, including Resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973), and 2334 (2016).
The countries reiterated that Israel holds no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territories, emphasizing that the unilateral Israeli measure carries no legal effect and does not alter the legal status of the occupied Palestinian land, including East Jerusalem, which they stressed remains an integral part of those territories.
The statement also reaffirmed commitment to a two-state solution based on international legitimacy and the Arab Peace Initiative, with the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state along the June 4, 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Earlier on 21 July, the UK and 30 European countries issued a joint statement, strongly opposing any steps towards territorial or demographic change in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The E1 settlement plan announced by Israel’s Civil Administration, if implemented, would divide a Palestinian state in two, “marking a flagrant breach of international law and critically undermining the two-state solution,” the statement added, noting that settlement building across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has accelerated while settler violence against Palestinians has soared. “This must stop.”
