Qatar and seven other Arab and Islamic countries have issued a joint condemnation of Israel’s decision to designate land in the occupied West Bank as so-called “state land.” The countries said Israel’s decision could accelerate settlement activities and undermine a Palestinian state.
In a statement issued by Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the foreign ministers of Qatar, Jordan, the UAE, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt said Israel’s decision also includes approval of procedures to register and settle land ownership across vast areas of the West Bank for the first time since 1967.
The ministers said Israel’s decision is a clear violation of international law and international humanitarian law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, as well as all relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions, including Resolution 2334. They also cited the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice regarding the legal consequences of Israel’s policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territory. The opinion emphasizes the illegality of all measures aimed at altering the legal status, historical status quo, and demographic status of the occupied Palestinian territory.
The joint statement asserted that the measures “could usher in a new legal and administrative reality, one that could consolidate Israel’s hold over occupied lands, undermine the two-state solution, and escalate the conflict in the West Bank and the region.”
The ministers called on the “international community to take clear and decisive steps to stop these activities and to protect the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination, to their independent state within the June 4, 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital, and to the right to return.”
Israel rejected the condemnation.
In response to the joint statement, the Israeli Foreign Ministry wrote on its website, “The joint statement is factually baseless and intentionally misleading. The Palestinian Authority is pursuing its illegal procedures regarding the registration of lands in Area C, in direct contravention of the agreements to which it is committed. The Israeli cabinet took the decision to put in place an administrative procedure within the bounds of civil and property law to facilitate the registration of lands.”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry wrote, “The procedure is intended to clarify the rights to lands, not to take away or grant rights, but to ensure transparency regarding the property rights of Israelis and Palestinians alike.”
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