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 “cont