Foreign ministers from 19 countries, including Turkiye, Qatar, France, and Brazil, have jointly condemned Israel’s efforts to expand control over Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank, calling the policy a “de facto annexation.” The statement, coordinated by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also received backing from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Arab League, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
The ministers criticized Israel’s plan to implement land registration across Area C, which covers roughly 60 percent of the West Bank, warning that it would enable the seizure of land from Palestinians unable to prove ownership. They described the move as “a deliberate and direct attack on the viability of the Palestinian State” that undermines the two-State solution.
The statement highlighted that the changes would reclassify Palestinian land as Israeli “state land,” accelerate illegal settlement activity, and consolidate Israeli administrative control, threatening both the demographic balance and legal status of the territory, including East Jerusalem.
Signatories urged Israel to end settler violence, adhere to international law, and halt the expansion of illegal settlements, forcible displacement, and annexation. They stressed that Israeli settlements violate international law, citing UN Security Council resolutions and the 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, which ruled Israel’s presence in the occupied territory unlawful.
Currently, around 465,000 Israeli settlers live in nearly 300 settlements and outposts in the West Bank, all considered illegal under international law. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that Israel’s land registration plan could lead to “dispossession of Palestinians of their property and risks expanding Israeli control over land.”
The ministers also called on Israel to release withheld tax revenues owed to the Palestinian Authority under the 1994 Paris Protocol and emphasized the need to preserve the historic and legal status of Jerusalem’s holy sites, particularly during Ramadan.