Israel accelerates West Bank annexation despite Arab, Muslim outcry and US objections
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A group of Arab and Muslim countries has condemned Israel’s latest steps towards asserting greater control over the occupied West Bank, even as the Trump administration reiterated its opposition to annexation, while Israeli leaders dismissed international objections and pressed ahead with measures that critics say entrench a de facto annexation of Palestinian territory.
In a joint statement issued on Monday, the foreign ministers of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Türkiye, Indonesia and Pakistan denounced Israeli decisions announced a day earlier, arguing that they impose an unlawful legal and administrative reality in the occupied Palestinian territory and threaten regional stability, while reaffirming that Israel holds no sovereignty over the West Bank.
They warned that continued settlement expansion and related measures were fuelling violence and undermining prospects for peace across the region.
The condemnation came as a White House official said the Trump administration opposed any move that destabilised the West Bank, stressing that stability there was essential for Israel’s security and aligned with Washington’s stated goal of achieving regional peace.
Despite this, Israeli officials rejected the criticism and defended the decisions, which were approved by Israel’s security cabinet and do not require further legislative approval.
The measures include allowing Jewish Israelis to purchase West Bank land directly by repealing restrictions dating back to Jordanian rule before 1967, making land registries public, and removing permit requirements previously overseen by Israel’s civil administration.
They also envisage transferring authority over settlement construction in parts of Hebron from the Palestinian Authority to Israel, while expanding Israeli control over key religious sites such as Rachel’s Tomb near Bethlehem and the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron.
The United Nations secretary-general expressed grave concern, warning that the steps were eroding the foundations of the two-state solution, a view echoed by the United Kingdom, which urged Israel to reverse what it described as unilateral actions inconsistent with international law.
The Palestinian presidency in Ramallah said the decisions amounted to a deliberate attempt to deepen annexation of the West Bank, where more than three million Palestinians live alongside over 500,000 Israeli settlers in settlements deemed illegal under international law.