Egypt condemns the Israeli decisions to expand the annexation scheme in the occupied West Bank
Author : Nesma AlhajYousef Published at : Feb 9, 2026
Nesma AlhajYousef
On 9 February 2026, Egypt issued a statement strongly condemning the Israeli decisions aimed at expanding and deepening the illegal annexation scheme of Palestinian territory in the occupied West Bank. Those decisions include, inter alia, the removal of confidentiality from land registries, the facilitation of the seizure of Palestinian property, the transfer of municipal authorities in Hebron, including the Ibrahimi Mosque, to the occupying authorities, as well as the imposition of measures enabling the demolition of Palestinian buildings.
Egypt affirmed that such decisions constitute a flagrant violation of international law and relevant international resolutions, amount to a deliberate undermining of the existing legal and historical status quo, and stand in clear contradiction to the Hebron Protocol of 1997. Egypt further stressed that these measures are intended, in practical terms, to entrench the reality of annexation, expand settlement activities, and impose full Israeli control over Palestinian territory. Egypt underscored its categorical rejection of all annexation and settlement policies and unilateral measures that undermine prospects for peace and the two-State solution, and that fuel further tension and instability in the occupied Palestinian territory and the wider region.
Egypt also called upon the international community, in particular the UN Security Council, to assume its legal and moral responsibilities to halt these violations immediately, ensuring respect for the rules of international humanitarian law, and safeguarding the legitimate and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, foremost among them their right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent Palestinian State on the 4 June 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
This position was subsequently reiterated in a joint statement issued by the Foreign Ministers of the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, the Republic of Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Republic of Türkiye, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the State of Qatar, affirming that these illegal measures in the occupied West Bank are null and void and constitute a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions, particularly Resolution 2334, which condemns all Israeli measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character, and status of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, as well as the 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, which found that Israel’s policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territory and its continued presence is illegal, affirmed the necessity of ending the Israeli occupation, and the nullity of the annexation of occupied Palestinian territory.