\n\tISLAMABAD: Arab Gulf countries and Muslim nations, including Pakistan, have condemned statements about a \u201cGreater Israel\u201d that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reported to have made in the wake of pronouncements by his far-right allies to annex Palestinian territories.<\/p>\n
\n\tFinance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced plans to expand settlement building in the occupied West Bank to \u201cbury the idea of a Palestinian state.\u201d Netanyahu said in a recent interview he felt \u201cvery much\u201d connected to the vision of \u201cGreater Israel,\u201d describing it as a \u201chistoric and spiritual mission.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe comments have triggered widespread outrage across the Arab and Muslim world in recent days and have been denounced by several nations, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Pakistan, as well as the Palestinian Authority.<\/p>\n
\n\tPakistan\u2019s foreign office said the remarks showed Israel\u2019s intent to cement its occupation and disregard peace efforts, urging the international community to act swiftly to halt further regional destabilization and end crimes against Palestinians.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cPakistan strongly condemns and rejects recent statements made by the Israeli Occupying power, alluding to the creation of so-called \u2018Greater Israel,\u2019 and its designs aimed at the forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza,\u201d the foreign office said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\n\tReiterating Islamabad\u2019s long-standing position, the foreign office reaffirmed Pakistan\u2019s support for the Palestinian people\u2019s right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent state of Palestine, based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn a joint statement on Saturday, the foreign ministers of Arab and Muslim nations said the pronouncements by Netanyahu and his ministers were \u201ca blatant and dangerous violation\u201d of international law.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThey also constitute a direct threat to Arab national security, to the sovereignty of states, and to regional and international peace and security,\u201d said the statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency, or SPA.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe signatories include the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Gambia, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, T\u00fcrkiye, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. It also included the secretaries-general of the League of Arab States, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Gulf Cooperation Council.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe ministers stressed that \u201cwhile their states reaffirm their respect for international legitimacy and the Charter of the United Nations, particularly Article 2, paragraph 4, which prohibits the use of force or the threat thereof, they will adopt all policies and measures that preserve peace, in a manner that serves the interests of all states and peoples in achieving security, stability, and development, away from illusions of domination and the imposition of power by force.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe ministers pushed back against Israeli Minister Smotrich\u2019s approval of the settlement plan in the \u201cE1\u201d area in the West Bank, along with his \u201cradical, racist\u201d statements rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n
\n\tEuropean nations, alarmed by the plan, have also called on the Israeli government to stop, with Germany warning that the \u201cE1\u201d settlement and the expansion of Maale Adumim would further restrict the mobility of the Palestinian population in the West Bank by splitting it in half and cutting the area off from East Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe joint statement said Israel\u2019s plan would constitute a \u201cblatant violation of international law and a flagrant assault on the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to realize their independent, sovereign state on the lines of 4 June 1967, with Occupied Jerusalem as its capital.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThey warned Israel\u2019s blatant disregard for the rights of Palestinians and its neighbors and the international community as a whole \u201cdirectly fuel cycles of violence and conflict and undermine prospects for achieving just and comprehensive peace in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe ministers \u201creiterated their rejection and condemnation of Israel\u2019s crimes of aggression, genocide, and ethnic cleansing\u201d and reaffirmed the need for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and \u201censuring unconditional humanitarian access to end the policy of systematic starvation that Israel is pursuing as a weapon of genocide.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tSince Oct. 2023, Israel has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to data from Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry. In late July 2025, the ministry reported that at least 18,500 children and 9,800 women have been killed by Israel.<\/p>\n
\n\tNot contented with the almost total destruction it has caused in Gaza, Israel has also continued to block international humanitarian agencies from delivering food to starving refugees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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