Saudi Arabia, 7 other Muslim countries condemn Israel over ‘illegal’ measures tightening control in West Bank

Nava Freiberg is The Times of Israel's deputy diplomatic correspondent.

Illustrative: A young boy from the Palestinian hamlet of Umm al-Khair in the West Bank plays on a soccer pitch just meters from the settlement of Carmel in the background, February 2, 2026 (Jeremy Sharon/Times of Israel)
Illustrative: A young boy from the Palestinian hamlet of Umm al-Khair in the West Bank plays on a soccer pitch just meters from the settlement of Carmel in the background, February 2, 2026 (Jeremy Sharon/Times of Israel)

The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey condemn the Israeli security cabinet’s approval yesterday of a West Bank policy overhaul altering land registration and property acquisition procedures to ease Jewish settlement and Israeli authority in the territory.

The measures are “aimed at imposing unlawful Israeli sovereignty, entrenching settlement activity, and enforcing a new legal and administrative reality in the occupied West Bank, thereby accelerating attempts at its illegal annexation and the displacement of the Palestinian people,” the countries say in a joint statement, calling on the international community “to compel Israel to halt its dangerous escalation in the occupied West Bank and the inciting statements of its officials.”

Earlier, the Palestinian Authority condemned the move, calling for UN and US intervention, while Hamas called for an “escalation” of the conflict “by all available means,” urging Arab and Muslim states to cut ties to Israel.

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