At UN, Pakistan raises alarm at Israel's systematic annexation of occupied West Bank

Pakistan has raised alarm at the systematic annexation of the occupied West Bank, expansion of illegal settlements and the forced displacement of Palestinians, calling for the intervention of the global community.

The stance was expressed by Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad at the Arria-formula meeting on the situation in the occupied territory.

“While international attention is consumed by multiple crises across the region, the systematic annexation of the occupied West Bank, expansion of illegal settlements, demolitions, land seizures and forced displacement of Palestinians continue unabated, and this requires our attention,” he said, according to the statement shared by Pakistan’s UN mission on X.

Israeli policies and illegal actions, unprecedented in scale and impact, are undermining the prospects for a viable Palestinian state,” he said.

The ambassador said that Pakistan condemned Israel’s ongoing legislative and administrative measures aimed at entrenching its illegal occupation and transforming “de facto annexation into de jure control”.

“Recent decisions granting expanded administrative authority over occupied territory, including land registration and confiscation mechanisms, constitute a grave violation of international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, as well as the comprehensive plan to end the Gaza conflict endorsed by the Security Council through Resolution 2803,” he highlighted, calling for the immediate reversal of such actions.

Ambassador Ahmad noted that in nearly four years, Israel had approved 102 new settlements, nearly doubling the 127 settlements that previously existed, adding that these measures were deliberately designed to “permanently alter and establish facts on the ground”.

He further highlighted that the illegal E-1 settlement project cut through the heart of the West Bank, while the tendering of over 3,400 housing units east of Jerusalem was aimed at rendering a “contiguous and viable Palestinian state geographically impossible”.

“At the same time, settler violence is escalating at an unprecedented rate,” he said. Recalling UN data, the Pakistani envoy said that 2025 witnessed the highest number of settler-related attacks against Palestinians since systematic documentation began in 2006.

“All settler violence and settlement activities must cease, in full compliance with international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, including Resolution 2334,” he stated.

He also highlighted the deteriorating economic and humanitarian situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, terming it “equally alarming”.

“Israel’s continued withholding of Palestinian tax revenues has exacerbated the fiscal crisis and undermined the Palestinian Authority’s ability to provide essential public services,” Ambassador Ahmad stated.

He said these measures were further weakening Palestinian institutions at a time when preserving the institutional and territorial integrity of the occupied Palestinian territory remained critical for the realisation of the two-state solution.

The ambassador stressed that the international community, particularly those with “influence over Israel”, must ensure accountability, compliance with international obligations, and implementation of relevant UN resolutions.

“As we have heard, annexation is on full throttle, and urgency for intervention is clear,” he said.

Reiterating Pakistan’s longstanding position, Ambassador Ahmad said the only viable path to a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace in the Middle East lay in ending the illegal Israeli occupation of all Arab territories and realising the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.

He said this could only be achieved through the establishment of an independent, sovereign, viable, and contiguous State of Palestine based on the pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, in accordance with international legitimacy.