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Türkiye issued a sharp rebuke Wednesday following the Israeli parliament's advancement of bills seeking to annex the occupied West Bank, declaring the move "null and void" under international law.
The Turkish foreign ministry released a statement calling the parliamentary action a violation of international law that threatens an already fragile security environment in the region. The condemnation came as Israeli lawmakers voted to move forward with two annexation proposals despite opposition from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing party.
"This provocative step, taken at a time when efforts to establish peace in Gaza are ongoing, threatens the already fragile security and stability environment in the region," the Turkish foreign ministry said in its statement.
Türkiye emphasized that the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has been under Israeli occupation since 1967 and constitutes territory belonging to the State of Palestine. The ministry warned that "Israel's unlawful faits accomplis in the West Bank must not be allowed."
In its statement, Türkiye pledged continued support for Palestinian rights and sovereignty. "Türkiye will continue to defend the inalienable rights of the Palestinians and to support efforts towards the establishment of an independent, sovereign, and contiguous State of Palestine on the basis of 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital," the foreign ministry declared.
The Turkish position aligns with international consensus that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law.
The Israeli parliament's votes came as U.S. Vice President JD Vance visited Israel to support a Gaza ceasefire brokered by President Donald Trump. Trump has stated his opposition to West Bank annexation, telling reporters at the White House in September: "I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. It's not going to happen."
Israeli media reported that Netanyahu called on members of his Likud party to abstain from voting. In a statement, Likud called the votes "another provocation by the opposition aimed at damaging our relations with the United States."
During Wednesday's preliminary reading, lawmakers voted 32 to nine in favor of examining a bill to annex Maale Adumim, a large Israeli settlement of some 40,000 people east of Jerusalem. A second proposal to annex the entire West Bank passed 25 to 24.
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Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich celebrated the votes on social media, declaring: "The time has come to impose full sovereignty over all of Judea and Samaria—the inheritance of our ancestors—and to promote peace agreements in exchange for peace with our neighbours with strength."
The Palestinian foreign ministry in Ramallah strongly rejected the Knesset's attempts, emphasizing that the occupied territories "constitute a single geographic unit over which Israel has no sovereignty," according to the Palestinian official news agency Wafa.
Jordan's foreign ministry also "strongly condemned" the votes, calling them "a blatant violation of international law and a grave undermining of the two-state solution."
The West Bank, excluding Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, is home to around three million Palestinians and more than 500,000 Israeli settlers. Violence in the territory has surged since the Gaza war began in October 2023.
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