Egypt has strongly condemned recent Israeli decisions to deepen the “illegitimate” annexation of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.
In a statement on Monday, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said the Israeli decisions include declassifying land registry records, easing the seizure of Palestinian property, transferring municipal powers in the city of Hebron, including authority over the Ibrahimi Mosque, to Israeli occupation authorities, and imposing measures that enable the demolition of Palestinian buildings.
Cairo stressed that the Israeli steps represent “a flagrant violation of international law and international legitimacy resolutions, a deliberate undermining of the existing legal and historical status quo, and a clear breach of the Hebron Agreement signed in 1997”.
The ministry said the Israeli measures effectively aim “to entrench annexation, expand settlement activity and impose full Israeli control over Palestinian land”.
On Sunday, Israel’s Security Cabinet ordered the repealing of a law barring the sale of Palestinian land to Jews in the occupied West Bank, unsealing land ownership records and transferring building permit authority in a Hebron settlement bloc from the Palestinian municipality to Israel’s civil administration.
The measures also expand Israeli oversight and enforcement into areas classified as Area A and Area B, citing alleged violations related to unlicensed construction, water issues and damage to archaeological and environmental sites.
The expansion would allow demolitions and seizures of Palestinian property, even in areas under the civil and security administration of the Palestinian Authority.
Egypt stressed its “complete rejection” of all annexation and settlement policies and unilateral measures, saying they undermine prospects for peace and the two-state solution and fuel further tension and instability in the occupied Palestinian territories and the wider region.
It called on the international community, particularly the UN Security Council, to fulfill its legal and moral responsibilities by immediately halting the Israeli violations, ensuring respect for international humanitarian law, and protecting the legitimate and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.
“Those rights include self-determination and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along the June 4, 1967, lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” it added.
