Islamabad, October 23, 2025: Pakistan on Thursday strongly condemned Israel’s attempt to extend its so-called “sovereignty” over parts of the occupied West Bank, including illegal settlements, through a draft law introduced in the Israeli Knesset, describing it as a blatant violation of international law and relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said such “provocative and unlawful measures” undermine prospects for peace and stability in the region. Pakistan urged the international community to take urgent and decisive action to halt the move and hold Israel accountable for its continued violations in the occupied territories.
Reaffirming its long-standing position, Pakistan reiterated support for the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and pledged to work with regional and international partners to uphold their legitimate rights. Islamabad renewed its call for the establishment of an independent, sovereign, viable, and contiguous State of Palestine based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
Israeli lawmakers on Wednesday advanced two draft bills proposing annexation of the occupied West Bank—one seeking to annex the Maale Adumim settlement, home to about 40,000 settlers, and another calling for the annexation of the entire territory. The measures passed initial readings in the 120-member Knesset, with far-right ministers openly backing the move in recent months.
Palestine’s foreign ministry, based in Ramallah, denounced the Knesset’s vote as an attempt to “annex Palestinian land,” stressing that the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip form a single territorial unit over which Israel has no sovereignty. Jordan’s foreign ministry also “strongly condemned” the vote, calling it a “flagrant breach of international law and a serious blow to the two-state solution.”
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio cautioned Israel against pursuing annexation, warning that such steps, coupled with settler violence, could jeopardize the recently brokered Gaza peace deal. “At this time, it’s something that we think might be counterproductive,” he told reporters before departing for Israel.
All Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are deemed illegal under international law.
