Eight Muslim countries, including Pakistan, on Tuesday condemned the Israeli move to claim land in the occupied West Bank as “state property”, saying that the step reflected an attempt to “impose a new legal and administrative reality designed to consolidate control over the occupied land”.

Al Jazeera reported on Sunday that the Israeli government had approved a proposal to register large areas of the occupied West Bank as “state property”, for the first time since the Israeli occupation of the territory in 1967, in clear violation of international law that states an occupying power cannot confiscate land in occupied territories.

Israel’s foreign ministry claimed the measure, approved late on Sunday, would enable “transparent and thorough clarification of rights to resolve legal disputes” but the move drew strong condemnations from across the globe for its violation of international law.

In a joint statement issued on Tuesday, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar strongly condemned the Israeli move.

“This illegal step constitutes a grave escalation aimed at accelerating illegal settlement activity, land confiscation, entrenching Israeli control, and applying unlawful Israeli sovereignty over the Occupied Palestinian Territory and undermining the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people,” the joint statement said.

“The ministers affirm that these measures represent a flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention, as well as a violation of relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, foremost among them Resolution 2334,” they said.

“The decision also contradicts the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice concerning the legal consequences arising from Israeli policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which underscored the illegality of measures intended to alter the legal, historical, and demographic status of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the obligation to end the occupation, and the prohibition of the acquisition of territory by force,” the joint statement added.

The ministers added that this step reflected an attempt to “impose a new legal and administrative reality designed to consolidate control over the occupied land, thereby undermining the two-state solution, eroding the prospects for the establishment of an independent and viable Palestinian State, and jeopardising the attainment of a just and comprehensive peace in the region”.

It should be mentioned that the same eight countries had worked with US President Donald Trump’s administration on a plan last year on a plan to end Israel’s genocide and invasion in Gaza.

On Monday, Pakistan had released a separate statement condemning the Israeli move, calling on the international community to reject its actions.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said this new measure was destabilising and unlawful, according to a statement by his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar and Jordan had also separately criticised the move as illegal while the European Union had called on Tel Aviv to reverse the move.

The Ramallah-based Palest­inian Authority called for inte­r­national intervention to prevent the “de facto beginning of the annexation process and the undermining of the foundations of the Palestinian state”.