Iraq on Friday condemned the Israeli Knesset’s preliminary approval of two bills seeking to impose Israeli sovereignty over the occupied West Bank and the Ma’ale Adumim settlement in occupied East Jerusalem, calling the move a “flagrant violation of international law,” according to the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA).
In a statement, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said it “strongly condemns the Knesset’s approval of two draft laws aimed at imposing sovereignty over the occupied West Bank and illegal settlements,” describing the move as “a direct assault on the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.”
“Such expansionist measures undermine prospects for stability and entrench the reality of occupation and settlement, threatening peace and security across the entire region,” the ministry said.
Calls for global actions
Baghdad urged the international community to “shoulder its legal and humanitarian responsibilities and take a firm stand against Israel’s aggressive and expansionist policies toward the Palestinian people.”
The Knesset approved the two annexation bills in a first reading on Wednesday, one seeking to annex the entire occupied West Bank and the other to annex Ma’ale Adumim, one of the largest Israeli settlements in the area. Both proposals require three additional readings before becoming law.
The vote came during US Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Tel Aviv and less than a month after President Donald Trump said on September 26 that he would not allow Israel to annex the West Bank — a move that would effectively end the possibility of a two-state solution envisioned under United Nations resolutions.
In response, 15 countries, along with Türkiye, the Arab League, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), issued a joint statement condemning the Israeli parliament’s move to impose “so-called sovereignty” over occupied Palestinian land.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), in a landmark advisory opinion last July, declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
