Nearly 20 nations slam Israel’s West Bank moves as step toward ‘de facto annexation’

Nearly 20 countries condemn Israel’s recent moves to tighten its control over the West Bank, characterizing them as attempts to annex the territory and undermine Palestinian statehood.

The moves “are part of a clear trajectory that aims to change the reality on the ground and to advance unacceptable de facto annexation,” the 18 mostly European or Muslim-majority countries say in a joint statement.

“Such actions are a deliberate and direct attack on the viability of the Palestinian state and the implementation of the two-state solution.”

A security cabinet decision earlier this month changed land registration and property acquisition procedures in the West Bank, easing Jewish settlement in the territory. It aimed to deepen Israeli control over the territory, including at sensitive sites such as Hebron’s Cave of the Patriarchs.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the goal of the new measures was, in part, to “kill the idea of a Palestinian state.” Proponents of the decision have also said it represents a move toward de facto extension of Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank.

The statement opposing the decision was signed by regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Egypt, European powers France and Spain, as well as Indonesia, Brazil and Turkey, among others.

It was also endorsed by the secretaries general League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, as well as the Palestinian Authority.

It follows a similar statement, signed by some of the same countries, that was issued around two weeks ago, immediately after the cabinet decision.