30+ nations condemn Netanyahu's ‘Greater Israel' plan

Shafaq News

2 days ago

Shafaq News – Middle East
Thirty-one Arab and Islamic nations jointly denounced, on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent comments about 'Greater Israel,' describing them as a flagrant violation of international law and a threat to regional stability.
The statement — issued by the foreign ministers of Jordan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Gambia, Indonesia, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Turkiye, the UAE, Yemen, along with the secretaries-general of the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Gulf Cooperation Council — reaffirmed commitment to the UN Charter and the prohibition on the use or threat of force, pledging to advance peace, stability, and development while opposing all forms of dominance or coercion.
The ministers also condemned Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's approval of the long-frozen E1 settlement project — a highly contentious plan in the occupied West Bank — and his rejection of a Palestinian state. They described these actions as a direct assault on Palestinians' right to independence within the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as their capital, while asserting that 'Israel holds no sovereignty over Palestinian territory.'
Citing UN Security Council Resolution 2334 and the International Court of Justice's advisory opinion, the statement rejected settlement activity and any attempts to alter the demographic or legal status of occupied land, warning against annexation plans, settlement expansion, violations at Islamic and Christian holy sites — particularly al-Aqsa Mosque — settler violence, daily raids, refugee camp demolitions, and forced displacement.
On Gaza, the statement accused Israel of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and using starvation as a weapon of war. It called for an immediate ceasefire, unrestricted humanitarian access, and lifting the blockade, while holding Israel responsible for the collapse of health and relief systems in the enclave.
The signatories urged the international community — particularly the permanent members of the UN Security Council, including the United States — to pressure Israel to halt its actions in Gaza and the West Bank, end official incitement, ensure protection for Palestinians, and uphold their right to statehood.