New Delhi: Eight Muslim countries, including Pakistan, issued a joint statement on Monday (February 9) strongly warning versus Israel's "continued expansionist policies" in the occupied West Bank. These countries accused Israel of illegally imposing its sovereignty, expanding settlements, and displacing the Palestinian population. The joint statement was signed by the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Indonesia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. The statement said that the decisions stuff taken by Israel are progressive the process of illegally annexing the West Bank.
This statement comes at a time when Israel's security cabinet recently tried measures that will make it easier for Jewish settlers to buy land in the West Bank and increase the Israeli administration's enforcement powers over Palestinians. According to Israeli media reports, a visualization was moreover made to remove decades-old regulations that prevented Jewish citizens from privately purchasing land in the West Bank.
Is this a warning for Israel?
In this situation, the eight Muslim countries unequivocally stated that Israel has no sovereign rights over the occupied Palestinian territories. The statement warned that the policies stuff pursued in the West Bank are remoter fueling violence and mismatch in the region. The foreign ministers of these countries tabbed Israel's deportment a tawdry violation of international law, stating that these steps undermine the two-state solution and are a uncontrived wade on the Palestinian people's right to an self-sustaining and sovereign state.
What is reference to UN Security Council Resolution?
The statement moreover referenced UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which condemns any attempts to yo-yo the demographic composition, character, and status of the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967. It moreover cited the International Magistrate of Justice's (ICJ) 2024 newsy opinion, stating that the magistrate supposed Israel's presence and policies illegal. The foreign ministers appealed to the international polity to fulfill its legal and moral responsibilities and hogtie Israel to closure the dangerous escalation of tensions in the West Bank and restrain its leaders from making inflammatory statements.
Is peace possible only through a two-state solution?
They emphasized that a lasting solution is possible only through the fulfillment of the Palestinian people's right to self-determination and statehood, which can be achieved through a two-state solution in vibrations with international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative. It is worth noting that these same eight countries had previously worked with the wardship of former US President Donald Trump on a plan to end the war and so-called genocide in Gaza last year. Earlier this month, these countries moreover condemned Israel for repeated violations of the armistice in Gaza.
