Pakistan urges UN action over Israeli annexation moves in occupied West Bank

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has voiced concern at the United Nations over what it described as the systematic annexation of the occupied West Bank, the expansion of illegal settlements, and the forced displacement of Palestinians, while calling for international action.

The position was presented by Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, during an Arria-formula meeting on the situation in the occupied territory. According to a statement shared by Pakistan’s UN mission on X, he said, "While international attention is consumed by multiple crises across the region, the systematic annexation of the occupied West Bank, expansion of illegal settlements, demolitions, land seizures and forced displacement of Palestinians continue unabated, and this requires our attention."

Ambassador Ahmad said Israeli policies and actions, which he described as illegal and unprecedented in scale and impact, were damaging the prospects for a viable Palestinian state. He said Pakistan condemned Israel’s continuing legislative and administrative steps aimed at deepening what he called its illegal occupation and turning

de facto annexation into de jure control

.

He further said that recent decisions granting broader administrative authority over occupied territory, including land registration and confiscation mechanisms, amounted to a serious breach of international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, as well as the comprehensive plan to end the Gaza conflict endorsed by the Security Council through Resolution 2803. He called for the immediate reversal of those measures.

Settlement expansion and settler violence

The Pakistani envoy said that over nearly four years, Israel had approved 102 new settlements, almost doubling the 127 settlements that had previously existed. He said these steps were deliberately intended to

permanently alter and establish facts on the ground

.

Ambassador Ahmad also referred to the E-1 settlement project, saying it cut through the centre of the West Bank. He added that the tendering of more than 3,400 housing units east of Jerusalem was aimed at making a

contiguous and viable Palestinian state geographically impossible

.

He said settler violence was also rising sharply. Referring to UN data, he said 2025 had recorded the highest number of settler-related attacks against Palestinians since systematic documentation began in 2006. He added, "All settler violence and settlement activities must cease, in full compliance with international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, including Resolution 2334."

Economic and humanitarian concerns

Ambassador Ahmad said the economic and humanitarian situation in the occupied Palestinian territory was also worsening. He described it as

equally alarming

and said Israel’s continued withholding of Palestinian tax revenues had deepened the fiscal crisis and weakened the Palestinian Authority’s capacity to deliver essential public services.

He said these actions were further eroding Palestinian institutions at a time when preserving the institutional and territorial integrity of the occupied Palestinian territory remained essential for the realisation of the two-state solution.

The ambassador said the international community, especially those with

influence over Israel

, must ensure accountability, compliance with international obligations, and implementation of relevant UN resolutions. He added, "As we have heard, annexation is on full throttle, and urgency for intervention is clear."

Reaffirming Pakistan’s longstanding position, Ambassador Ahmad said a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East required an end to what he called the illegal Israeli occupation of all Arab territories and the fulfilment of the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination. He said this could only be achieved through the establishment of an independent, sovereign, viable and contiguous State of Palestine on the basis of the pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, in line with international legitimacy.