Foreign Ministries Condemn Israeli Moves in West Bank as Effort to Consolidate Control

Several foreign ministries in the Middle East and other regions have condemned recent Israeli government decisions affecting the occupied West Bank, describing the steps as part of what they called a broader effort to consolidate control over the territory.

In a joint statement on Feb. 23, the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey, among others, described the changes as “wide-ranging” and said they reclassified Palestinian land as “so-called Israeli ‘state land’.”

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas noted the “broad international condemnation” of Israel’s decisions on the West Bank, in a Feb. 24 post on X. He said they aim to “expand control and colonial settlements in the West Bank.”

International criticism followed the Israeli government’s decision on Feb. 15 to approve a multi-year, state-funded plan to formally register land in Area C of the West Bank.

The decision, published the same day by the Government Secretariat, set a goal of registering at least 15 percent of unregulated land in Area C by the end of 2030.

Area C of the West Bank remains under full Israeli control under the 1995 Oslo II Accord between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Areas A and B fall under varying degrees of Palestinian civil authority, with Israel retaining overriding security control in Area B.

Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War and has maintained military control over much of the territory since then.

Land Registries, Planning Decisions

The land registration plan came days after Israel’s Security Cabinet advanced additional measures related to the West Bank.

In a Feb. 9 post on X, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said enforcement activities approved that day would “remove old barriers and strengthen settlement” across “Judea and Samaria,” the Israeli government’s term for the West Bank.

Smotrich said Israeli authorities had repealed restrictive Jordanian land laws, adding that land in Judea and Samaria could now be purchased through a simpler and more transparent process.

He said supervision and enforcement on water, archaeology, and environmental issues had been expanded, including in Areas A and B, which are under varying degrees of Palestinian civil administration.

The Cabinet also decided to transfer building licensing authorities in the Jewish settlement in Hebron and at holy sites from Palestinian jurisdiction to the planning institutions of Israel’s Civil Administration.

International Reaction

In their Feb. 23 joint statement, the foreign ministers said the latest Israeli decisions were part of what they described as “a clear trajectory that aims to change the reality on the ground and to advance unacceptable de facto annexation.”

They said the measures undermine ongoing efforts for regional peace and stability, “including the 20 Point Plan for Gaza,” and threaten “any meaningful prospect of regional integration.”

The ministers called on Israel “to reverse them immediately, to respect its international obligations, and to refrain from actions that would result in permanent changes to the legal and administrative status of the occupied Palestinian Territory.”

The ministers also reaffirmed what they called their “unwavering commitment” to a just and lasting peace based on a two-state solution, in line with the Arab Peace Initiative, relevant U.N. resolutions, and the June 4, 1967 lines.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing an election later this year, sees the establishment of any Palestinian state as a security threat.

In Washington, days after Israel’s security cabinet advanced the West Bank measures on Feb. 9, U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his opposition to Israeli annexation of the territory.

“I am against annexation,” Trump said in an interview with Axios published on Feb. 10. “We have enough things to think about now. We don’t need to be dealing with the West Bank.”