Brazil, France, Saudi Arabia Lead Joint Rebuke of Israeli West Bank Measures as 'De Facto Annexation'

Overview

• Roughly 20 countries, joined by the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, declared Israel’s recent West Bank measures a de facto annexation and an assault on a viable two‑state solution.
• The joint statement urged Israel to halt settler violence against Palestinians with accountability for offenders and committed signatories to pursue concrete actions consistent with international law.
• Israel’s cabinet this month advanced steps to register West Bank areas as state property and to permit direct land purchases by Israelis, moves foreign ministers labeled illegal under UN resolutions.
• Israel’s Housing Ministry separately announced a plan for 2,780 new housing units to expand the Geva Binyamin (Adam) settlement eastward, a project that still faces domestic approval stages.
• Diplomatic pressure has intensified after 85 UN member states condemned the measures last week, as settlement growth accelerates under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with over 500,000 settlers living among about three million Palestinians in the territory.