ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations on Friday condemned Israel’s ongoing legislative and administrative measures aimed at entrenching its occupation of the occupied West Bank, calling for their immediate reversal.
The remarks by Pakistan’s UN envoy Asim Iftikhar Ahmad came during a UN meeting convened by the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Greece, and Latvia, where officials briefed members on developments in the West Bank.
Statement by Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad,
Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN,
At the Arria Formula Meeting on the Situation in West Bank including East Jerusalem
(8 May 2026)
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We thank the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Greece, and Latvia for convening this… pic.twitter.com/hFWPzyOjqC— Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the UN (@PakistanUN_NY) May 8, 2026
Ahmad said that while global attention remained focused on multiple regional crises, the systematic annexation of the occupied West Bank, expansion of illegal settlements, demolitions, land seizures, and forced displacement of Palestinians continued without interruption.
He said Israel’s recent decisions granting expanded administrative authority over occupied territory, including land registration and confiscation mechanisms, constituted a grave violation of international law as well as the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza conflict.
“These actions must be reversed immediately,” Ahmad said. “The international community, especially those with influence over Israel, must ensure accountability, compliance with international obligations, and implementation of relevant UN resolutions.”
According to Ahmad, Israel has approved 102 new settlements in nearly four years, almost doubling the 127 settlements that previously existed.
He said the measures were deliberately designed to permanently alter realities on the ground.
The envoy also warned that settler violence against Palestinians was escalating sharply, noting that the UN recorded the highest number of settler-related attacks in 2025 since documentation began in 2006.
“All settler violence and settlement activities must cease, in full compliance with international law,” he said.
“Pakistan reiterates that the only viable path to a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East lies in ending the illegal Israeli occupation of all Arab territories and realizing the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination through the establishment of an independent, sovereign, viable and contiguous State of Palestine based on the pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, in accordance with international legitimacy,” he said.
