Pakistan condemns Israel’s move to convert areas of West Bank into ‘state property’

WEB DESK: Pakistan on Monday issued a strong condemnation of Israel’s recent decision to designate substantial areas of the occupied West Bank as “state property.”

According to a statement from Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO), this move, alongside the expansion of illegal settlements, constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and numerous United Nations Security Council and General Assembly resolutions. The FO called upon the international community to firmly reject these measures.

The statement emphasised that Israel’s continued disregard for international norms, coupled with provocative actions, is undermining prospects for a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace in the region. Pakistan urged decisive international intervention to halt Israeli impunity and uphold the principles of international law.

Reiterating its steadfast support for the Palestinian people, Pakistan reaffirmed their right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent, sovereign, and contiguous Palestinian state along the pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif (East Jerusalem) as its capital.

As reported by Al Jazeera on Sunday, Israel’s plan involves registering extensive tracts of West Bank land as state-owned in cases where Palestinian ownership cannot be formally proven. Much Palestinian land remains unregistered owing to the complex and protracted process, which Israel suspended following its occupation of the territory in 1967. International law explicitly forbids an occupying power from appropriating land in occupied territories.

Palestinian groups, including Hamas, denounced the decision as a deliberate attempt to seize and “Judaise” the land by reclassifying it as “state land.” By contrast, Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz described the measure as essential for security, governance, control, and operational freedom in the area, according to the Jerusalem Post.