On 17 February 2026, a joint statement was issued by the Foreign Ministers of Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar strongly condemning Israel’s decision to designate large areas of land in the occupied West Bank as “state land”, describing it as a serious escalation aimed at expanding settlements and entrenching Israeli control over the Occupied Palestinian Territory and undermine the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. For the first time since 1967, Israel has approved procedures for the registration and settlement of land ownership across extensive parts of the West Bank. 

The Ministers affirmed that those measures constitute a grave breach of international law and international humanitarian law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention, as well as relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, foremost among them United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334. The statement further underscored that such actions contradict the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences arising from Israeli policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which reaffirmed the illegality of measures intended to alter the legal, historical, and demographic character of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the obligation to end the occupation, and the prohibition on acquiring territory by force. The statement warned that those decisions would severely undermine the two-State solution and jeopardize prospects for a just and comprehensive peace. It further called upon the international community to take clear and decisive steps to halt these violations, ensure respect for international law, and safeguard the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to self-determination and to establish their independent sovereign State on the lines of 4 June 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital.

On 23 February 2026, this position was further reiterated in a joint statement issued by the Foreign Ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, France, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Jordan, Luxembourg, Norway, Palestine, Portugal, Qatar, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye , alongside the Secretaries-General of the League of Arab States and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The Ministers opposed any form of annexation, rejecting all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, in particular the unprecedented acceleration of Israel’s settlement policy, including the approval of the E1 project and the publication of its tender. They further called on Israel to end settler violence against Palestinians, including by holding those responsible accountable, and reaffirmed their commitment to taking concrete steps, in accordance with international law, to counter the expansion of illegal settlements in Palestinian territory, as well as policies and threats of forcible displacement and annexation.

The statement also stressed the importance of preserving the historic and legal status quo in Jerusalem and its Holy Sites, recognizing the special role of the historic Hashemite custodianship in this regard. The Ministers condemned the repeated violations of the status quo in Jerusalem, which constitute a threat to regional stability. 

Furthermore, they called for the immediate release by Israel of the withheld tax revenues due to the Palestinian Authority. Those revenues must be transferred to the Palestinian Authority, according to the Paris Protocol, noting that these revenues are vital for the provision of basic services to the Palestinian population in Gaza and the West Bank.