Iran condemns Israeli Knesset's annexation bill of West Bank

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei made the remarks in a statement on Thursday, a day after the Knesset voted in favor of a bill that would apply the usurping entity’s law to all West Bank settlements, as well as another, more limited bill to annex the Maale Adumim settlement. The bills must still pass three additional votes in the plenum to turn into law.

Baghaei said that the bill is another step in the path of the regime's colonial and criminal expansionism, which continues eight decades of continuous violation of the fundamental right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.

He added that these policies adopted by Israel confirm the Israeli regime's plan for comprehensive ethnic cleansing throughout occupied Palestine. 

Baghaei also highlighted the continuing gross violations of human rights and humanitarian law in the West Bank and the genocide in Gaza.

He said it is a responsibility of all governments to adopt effective measures to prevent the colonial annihilation of Palestine.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman called for immediate action by Islamic countries and the international community to prevent the blatant violation of the historical rights of the Palestinian people.

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion stating that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories was “unlawful” and must end as soon as possible.

In another advisory opinion on Wednesday, the Hague-based tribunal said Israel, as an occupying power, is obligated to work with UN agencies to facilitate humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, a rebuke of the regime’s inhumane blockade of the Palestinian territory amid a genocidal war.

The court also said that Israel had failed to substantiate its allegations that the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) lacked neutrality or that a significant number of its staff were members of Hamas or other resistance groups.

The UN General Assembly requested the opinion in December 2024 after Israel banned UNRWA, significantly curtailing its ability to deliver aid to Gaza.

Zionist regime unleashed its genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, after Hamas carried out the historic Al-Aqsa Flood operation against the usurping entity in retaliation for the regime’s intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Zionist regime accepted a Gaza ceasefire deal after two years, following the failure to achieve its declared objectives of eliminating Hamas and freeing all captives, despite martyring 68,234 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring 170,373 others.