Muslim nations condemn Israel’s new West Bank settlement laws

A statement issued by the Saudi Foreign Ministry on Monday said that eight Muslim-majority countries had called on the international community to “compel Israel to halt its dangerous escalation” of efforts to illegally annex the occupied West Bank.

The statement condemned “in the strongest terms” a series of measures adopted by the Zionist regime's cabinet a day earlier, which are aimed at accelerating settlement growth and tightening Israeli control over the Palestinian territory.

The decisions effectively remove obstacles that have limited settlement expansion for decades, including confidentiality rules on land registries and a Jordanian-era law that prohibits land sales to Israelis in the territory.

They also revive a land acquisition committee, dormant for over 20 years, to facilitate large-scale purchases intended to secure settlement land for future generations.

Two notorious Israeli cabinet ministers, finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and war minister Israel Katz, have championed the measures, with experts believing they aim to bolster their political support ahead of elections.

Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates said in the statement that the Zionist regime is attempting to create “a new legal and administrative reality” to displace Palestinians and illegally annex the West Bank, which it occupied in 1967.

The signatories reaffirmed the Palestinian right to “self-determination and statehood,” despite recent comments by Smotrich that the new measures are meant to “bury the idea of a Palestinian state.”

They also denounced Israel’s attempt to impose “unlawful Israeli sovereignty” by transferring planning and construction authority in areas such as Hebron, Bethlehem, and parts of the West Bank from the Palestinian Authority to the Israeli regime.

Analysts say the changes to land ownership and purchasing procedures will be legally difficult to reverse, leading to a significant expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which is home to some 3.3 million Palestinians.

They warn that Zionist regime could demolish Palestinian-owned buildings in Area A of the occupied West Bank under the pretext of protecting archaeological and heritage sites, a responsibility assigned to the regime under the new measures.