This came in a decision issued by the extraordinary session of the Council of the League of Arab States, which was held in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, at the level of delegates, chaired by the UAE, and based on a request from the State of Palestine and the support of the member states.
The meeting was dedicated to discussing mechanisms for Arab and international action to confront Israeli measures regarding the expansion of settlements in the West Bank.
On Sunday, the Israeli Security Cabinet approved decisions aimed at bringing about changes in the legal and civil reality in the occupied West Bank, with the goal of strengthening Israeli control over it.
Among these decisions is the expansion of Israeli control and enforcement powers to include areas classified as “A” and “B”, under the pretext of violations related to unlicensed construction, water issues, and damage to archaeological and environmental sites.
This latest measure allows Israel to carry out demolition and confiscation operations against Palestinian property even in areas under the administrative and security control of the Palestinian Authority.
Under the 1995 Oslo II Agreement, Area A is under full Palestinian control, Area B is under Palestinian civil control and Israeli security control, while Area C is under full Israeli control and is estimated to be about 60% of the West Bank.
**Demand and warning
The Arab League Council called on Trump to fulfill the pledges he made to Arab and Islamic countries and to take "practical and clear" steps to prevent Israel from annexing the occupied West Bank, as part of his efforts to achieve peace.
He stressed that any annexation of Palestinian lands constitutes a "war crime" and is part of the ongoing "crimes of aggression, genocide and ethnic cleansing committed by Israel, the occupying power, against the Palestinian people."
The Council reiterated its "firm and strong" support for the rights of the Palestinian people to full sovereignty over their state's land within the June 4, 1967 borders, its holy sites, and its capital, East Jerusalem.
He stressed that all Israeli decisions and actions aimed at seizing occupied Palestinian land and changing its legal status and demographic composition are “null and void,” emphasizing that they have no legal effect.
**Rejection of displacement
On the other hand, the Council expressed its categorical rejection of any form of displacement of the Palestinian people or change to its demographic composition in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
This was considered "a grave violation of international law and international legitimacy resolutions, and an undermining of the embodiment of the independence of the State of Palestine, and of efforts aimed at achieving a just, lasting and comprehensive peace."
The Council called on the international community, the Security Council, and all peace-loving countries that adhere to international law, "to exert pressure and take deterrent punitive measures against Israel to stop and cancel annexation and settlement plans, decisions, and practices, considering them crimes that undermine peace and security."
He also expressed "categorical rejection" of the fragmentation of Palestinian land, and of any attempts to separate the Gaza Strip from the West Bank, and considered the political and geographical unity of the land of the State of Palestine on the borders of June 4, 1967, as "a constant of Arab principles."
He called for international protection for the Palestinian people in the face of settler crimes. The Council also reaffirmed its rejection and condemnation of any decision that violates the legal status of the city of Jerusalem, including the transfer of diplomatic missions to it.
He called on Argentina not to move its embassy to Jerusalem, warning that this would cause "serious damage" to Arab-Argentine relations, and constitute "a violation of international law and United Nations resolutions, and an aggression against the rights of the Palestinian people."
In February 2024, during his visit to Israel, Argentine President Javier Pellegrini announced his country's intention to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to occupied Jerusalem.
However, Channel 12 reported on January 11 that Argentina had frozen the ceremony to move its embassy due to an escalating diplomatic crisis between Tel Aviv and Buenos Aires.
The ceremony was scheduled to take place on what is called "Israeli Independence Day," which begins after sunset on April 21 and continues on April 22 according to the Hebrew calendar.
On Tuesday evening, US President Donald Trump announced in an interview with the American news website Axios his opposition to Israel's steps to annex the occupied West Bank.
Since launching its war of extermination on the Gaza Strip on October 8, 2023, Israel has intensified its attacks in the West Bank, including killing, arrests, displacement, and settlement expansion, in a course that Palestinians see as paving the way for the formal annexation of the West Bank.
The attacks in the West Bank resulted in the martyrdom of at least 1,112 Palestinians, the injury of about 11,500 others, in addition to the arrest of more than 21,000, according to official data.
