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The Arab League convened an emergency session in Cairo on Wednesday to condemn Israel's latest moves to expand settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, calling on US President Donald Trump to take concrete action to prevent annexation of Palestinian territory.
The meeting, chaired by the United Arab Emirates, brought together permanent delegates from across the Arab world to coordinate a response to a package of measures approved by Israel's Security Cabinet on Sunday. Those decisions included repealing a law that had prohibited land sales to Israeli settlers in the West Bank, unsealing land ownership records, and transferring building permit authority in a settlement bloc near Hebron from a Palestinian municipality to Israel's civil administration.
In a statement issued after the session, the Arab League Council said any annexation of Palestinian land constitutes a war crime and declared all Israeli decisions aimed at seizing territory and altering its legal status and demographic makeup to be "null and void" with no legal standing.
The council reaffirmed its support for Palestinian sovereignty on the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem, including its holy sites, as the capital. It also urged Trump to follow through on his stated commitment to peace by taking "practical and clear" steps to block Israeli annexation.
Senior Arab diplomats used stark language to describe the gravity of the Israeli actions. Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Faid Mustafa characterized the measures as an "unprecedented escalation intended to solidify the de facto annexation of large swathes of the West Bank," warning that they "effectively undermine the political basis of the two-state solution," a framework he said still commands broad international consensus as the only viable path to lasting peace.
Palestinian delegate Muhannad Al-Aklouk told the session the decisions represent a "qualitative shift aimed at deepening annexation and territorial expansion." Jordan's delegate, Amjad Al-Adailah, said the measures amount to a "blatant violation of international law" that undercuts international legitimacy built around a two-state framework. The UAE's representative, Hamad Al-Zaabi, reaffirmed his country's "strong condemnation" of steps aimed at imposing what he called an "unlawful reality" in the West Bank.
The emergency session comes against the backdrop of mounting legal scrutiny of Israel's occupation. In July 2024, the International Court of Justice issued a landmark advisory opinion declaring Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and calling for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The opinion, while non-binding, carried significant political weight and bolstered Palestinian demands for an end to the occupation.
Israel has expanded military operations across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since launching its campaign in Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023. Palestinians view the intensifying pattern of killings, mass arrests, displacement, and settlement growth as incremental steps toward the formal annexation of the territory.
The two-state solution, envisioning an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, has been the cornerstone of international diplomatic efforts since the 1990s Oslo Accords, though progress toward its realization has stalled for over a decade amid continued settlement expansion and recurring cycles of violence.
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