Pakistan denounces Israel’s West Bank land move as “illegal seizure”

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday strongly condemned Israel’s decision to designate large areas of the occupied West Bank as “state property,” calling the move illegal and a threat to prospects for lasting peace in the region.

In a statement, the Foreign Office said the measures by Israeli authorities to formalise control over land in the occupied territory violated international law and relevant resolutions of the United Nations. It urged the international community to reject the actions and press for accountability.

The statement warned that continued settlement expansion and land appropriation would further erode the possibility of a negotiated solution to the decades-long conflict.

Islamabad reiterated its position that such steps by an occupying power cannot alter the legal status of the territory.

Reports cited by Al Jazeera said the Israeli government had approved a proposal allowing the state to claim land where Palestinian ownership could not be formally proven. Much of the territory lacks official registration due to a complex system that has remained largely frozen since 1967.

Palestinian group Hamas condemned the plan as an attempt to appropriate land and expand settlements, while Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz described it, according to the Jerusalem Post, as a necessary security and governance measure to strengthen Israeli control.

Pakistan reaffirmed its support for the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and for the establishment of an independent state based on pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, urging concrete international steps to halt what it called ongoing violations.

Officials in Islamabad said durable peace in the Middle East would remain elusive as long as unilateral actions continue to reshape facts on the ground, signalling that the issue is likely to remain a focal point of Pakistan’s diplomatic engagement at international forums.