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Saudi Arabia and seven other muslim countries on Monday (Feb 09) denounced fresh measures announced by the Israeli government to expand its presence and additional steps to tighten control of the West Bank, including allowing more settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defence Minister Israel Katz announced the new provisions on Sunday. These include allowing Jewish Israelis to buy West Bank land, as per a joint statement from ministers.
The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, Qatar, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey "condemned in the strongest terms the illegal Israeli decisions and measures aimed at imposing unlawful Israeli sovereignty", a Saudi statement said.
They are an attempt at "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 foreign ministry statement added.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas described the decision as a de facto annexation of the West Bank and urged the US president and the United Nations Security Council to intervene.
The measure will also allow Israeli authorities to take charge of managing some religious sites and increase the scope of Israeli interference and enforcement in areas run by the Palestinian Authority.
Finance Minister Smotrich said these steps are aimed at "deepening our roots in all regions of the Land of Israel and burying the idea of a Palestinian state".
The timing of the decision raised eyebrows, as it comes days ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to the United States, where he is due to meet the US president. Donald Trump previously stated his disapproval of Israeli annexation of the West Bank and endorsed the US stance on the issue.
