• Nations from Algeria to Zimbabwe, Arab League, OIC and EU take issue with unilateral decisions aimed at expanding unlawful Israeli presence
• Israeli NGO warns against expansion of settlements ‘into Jerusalem’
• Imam of Al Aqsa barred from entering mosque compound

JERUSALEM: As Israeli authorities barred the imam of Al Aqsa Mosque from entering the compound, 93 states — including the eight-nation Muslim bloc — slammed Tel Aviv’s move to designate lands in the occupied West Bank as so-called “state land”.

Last week, the Israeli cabinet approved measures that would increase Israeli civilian authority in Areas A and B of the West Bank, which together constitute roughly 40 per cent of the territory.

Israeli NGOs have also raised alarm over the government’s settlement plan, which they say would mark the first expansion of Jerusalem’s borders into the occupied West Bank since 1967.

According to a statement, issued by the Palestinian mission to the United Nations, 85 nations as well as the European Union (EU), Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Arab League called for the immediate reversal of the Israeli annexation of the West Bank.

States who signed up to the latest statement include Algeria, Andorra, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chad, China, Colombia, Cuba, Cyprus, North Korea, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guyana, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Liberia, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, South Korea, Russia, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, The Gambia, Turkiye, Uganda, UAE, Tanzania, UK, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

An earlier statement from the foreign ministers of the eight-nation Muslim bloc also condemned Israel for approving procedures for the registration and settlement of land ownership across extensive areas of the occupied West Bank.

“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,” said the statement.

“This step reflects 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.”

Warning by NGOs

The planned development, announced by Israel’s Ministry of Construction and Housing, is formally a westward expansion of the Geva Binyamin, or Adam, settlement situated north-east of Jerusalem in the West Bank.

But the area to be developed lies on the Israeli side of the separation barrier built in the early 2000s, while Geva Binyamin sits on the West Bank side of the barrier, and the two are separated by a road. In a statement, Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now said there would be no “territorial or functional connection” between the area to be developed and the settlement.

“The new neighbourhood will be integral to the city of Jerusalem,” said Lior Amihai, Peace Now’s executive director.

“What is unique about that one is that it will be connected directly to Jerusalem, but it will be beyond the annexed municipal border. So it will be in complete West Bank territory, but just adjacent to Jerusalem,” he said.

Imam barred from Al Aqsa

Sheikh Muhammad Al-Abbasi, a senior imam of the Al Aqsa Mosque in east Jerusalem, said on Tuesday that Israeli authorities had barred him from entering the compound, just days before the start of the holy month of Ramazan.

“I have been barred from the mosque for a week, and the order can be renewed,” he said, adding that he was not informed of the reason for the ban.

On Monday, Israeli police said they had recommended issuing 10,000 permits for Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, who require special permission to enter Jerusalem.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2026