Daijiworld Media Network - Ankara
Ankara, Feb 24: Foreign ministers of 19 countries, including Turkey, Qatar, France and Brazil, have issued a joint statement condemning Israel’s moves to extend and consolidate its control over Palestinian land, describing the measures as unlawful.
The statement, released late Monday by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, criticised Israel’s plan to begin land registration in the occupied West Bank. According to the signatories, the move would effectively sanction the seizure of land from Palestinians unable to prove ownership and amount to “de facto annexation.”
“Changes are wide-ranging, reclassifying Palestinian land as so-called Israeli ‘state land’, accelerating illegal settlement activity, and further entrenching Israeli administration,” the joint statement said. It was also signed by Saudi Arabia and Egypt, along with the heads of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
Israel’s plans, signed on February 15, would introduce land registration across Area C, which constitutes about 60 percent of the West Bank’s territory. Area C remains largely under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule, but is envisioned as part of a future Palestinian state under a negotiated settlement.
Citing information from Peace Now, an organisation that monitors settlement activity, the statement warned that the measures could permanently alter the “legal and administrative status” of the territory.
“Such actions are a deliberate and direct attack on the viability of the Palestinian State and the implementation of the two-State Solution,” the statement said. It also rejected any steps aimed at altering “the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem.”
The signatories further called on Israel to end settler violence against Palestinians and pledged to take “concrete steps, in accordance with international law, to counter the expansion of illegal settlements in Palestinian territory and policies and threats of forcible displacement and annexation