Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United ‌Arab Emirates led regional states Monday in condemning Israel's move to ease settlement expansion and ‌widen its powers in the West ‍Bank, a step critics said went in the direction of annexing occupied land.Sunday's decisions by Israel's security cabinet will make it easier for ⁠Jewish settlers to buy land in the West ⁠Bank and give Israeli authorities more power to act in areas supposedly under full Palestinian control, two senior Israeli ministers ‍said.**media[415019]**One of them, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, said in announcing the decisions that the government would not allow the the idea of a Palestinian state.A joint statement by foreign ministers of Middle Eastern and some other Muslim countries, including Egypt and Turkiye, denounced the decisions as a violation of international law that would undermine the vision of a two-state solution as well as stability in the region.They said the moves meant to entrench Israeli settlement of the West Bank, displacing Palestinians and imposing unlawful Israeli sovereignty there. Annexing ‌the territory has long been a priority of far-right parties in Netanyahu's coalition.**media[415020]**Most nations have long backed the ⁠creation of a Palestinian state ‌alongside Israel as the best way to resolve the generations-old conflict and see the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, as the largest part of that future state.Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz and Smotrich issued a joint statement explaining the decisions of the five-member security cabinet, which were not published in full.The security cabinet decided to repeal a law dating from Jordan's control of the West Bank before 1967 to make land registries public rather than confidential, and to remove a requirement for a permit from a civil administration office.They said these moves would make it easier for Jews to purchase land in the West Bank.Hagit Ofran from the Israeli settlement watchdog group Peace Now said the decision was barred by international law and represented a step towards annexation ​of the West Bank.**media[415021]**"The decision to ‌allow every Israeli the right to buy land in the West Bank without government approval, without inspection, is also another way of saying it's normal life. ⁠It's not occupied territories, it's like part of ‍Israel," she said.Annexation is opposed by US President Donald Trump, who last year said he would not allow Israel to carry out such a step."It's not going to happen," Trump, who is expecting Netanyahu at the White House for a meeting tomorrow, said in September.Katz and Smotrich also said the government had decided to expand monitoring and enforcement actions regarding water offences, damage to archaeological sites and environmental hazards to areas A and B of the ​West Bank.Under the Oslo interim peace accords of 1993, Area A was designated as under security control of the Palestinian Authority and Area B as under joint control with Israel. Most of the West Bank became Area C under full Israeli security control.Those changes could allow the Israeli military to carry out demolitions of Palestinian property and prevent Palestinian development not only in Area C but throughout the West Bank, Peace Now said in a statement.In Hebron, a West Bank city with extensive archaeological remains and a significant Israeli settler community, Palestinians voiced dismay at the decisions."It becomes easier to confiscate land, easier and faster to expand settlements and easier to ⁠demolish Palestinian homes," said Issa Amr, who heads an organisation in Hebron called Youth Against Settlements.

The Foreign Ministers of the State of Qatar, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, the Republic of Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Republic of Türkiye, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Arab Republic of Egypt condemned in the strongest terms the illegal Israeli decisions and measures aimed at imposing unlawful Israeli sovereignty, entrenching settlement activity, and enforcing a new legal and administrative reality in the occupied West Bank, thereby accelerating attempts at its illegal annexation and the displacement of the Palestinian people. They reaffirmed that Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory. The Ministers warned against the continued expansionist Israeli policies and illegal measures pursued by the Israeli government in the occupied West Bank, which fuel violence and conflict in the region. **media[414731]** The Ministers expressed their absolute rejection of these illegal actions, which constitute a blatant violation of international law, undermine the two-state solution, and represent an assault on the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to realize their independent and sovereign state on the 4 June 1967 lines, with occupied Jerusalem as its capital. Such actions also undermine the ongoing efforts for peace and stability in the region. The Ministers affirmed that these illegal measures in the occupied West Bank are null and void and constitute a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions, particularly Resolution 2334, which condemns all Israeli measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character, and status of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, as well as the 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, which found that Israel’s policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territory and its continued presence is illegal, affirmed the necessity of ending the Israeli occupation, and the nullity of the annexation of occupied Palestinian lands They renewed their call on the international community to fulfill its legal and moral responsibilities and to compel Israel to halt its dangerous escalation in the occupied West Bank and the inciting statements of its officials. They stressed that the fulfillment of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and statehood, based on the two-state solution in accordance with resolutions of international legitimacy and the Arab Peace Initiative, remains the only path to achieving just and comprehensive peace that ensures security and stability in the region.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov affirmed that Russia has no plans of attacking Europe, noting that the military action in Ukraine is a “special military operation” and not a war with the European continent."We are not going to attack any part of Europe. We have absolutely no reason to do so", Lavrov said in a statement.The Foreign Minister warned "if Europe opts to materialize its threats to prepare for war against us and starts attacking Russia, there will be a full-scale military response with all available military means". Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously stated that his country does not seek to enter into a war with European countries, however, he stressed that Russia is ready to fight if Europe chooses escalation. This statement comes amid ongoing tensions between Russia and the West since the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine in Feb.2022.