UAE condemns Israeli minister's West Bank sovereignty remarks

The United Arab Emirates has strongly condemned Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s remarks about imposing Israeli sovereignty over the Occupied West Bank next year.

In a statement issued by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the government expressed its firm rejection of any actions aimed at altering the legal status of Palestinian territories, calling such measures provocative and destabilising.

UAE Condemns Israeli Finance Minister’s Statements on West Bank Expansionhttps://t.co/CnRQNOX0tL pic.twitter.com/cBay8q20wc

— MoFA وزارة الخارجية (@mofauae) November 12, 2024

The UAE warned that these actions threaten regional stability and hinder efforts toward peace.

The statement reiterated the UAE’s commitment to supporting a two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, stressing the importance of regional and international efforts to advance the peace process.

The Ministry also urged the international community to push for an immediate ceasefire to prevent further loss of life and escalation in the region, reinforcing the UAE’s commitment to peace and justice for the Palestinian people.

Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich pledged on Monday to annex Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank in 2025, calling Donald Trump’s return to power in the United States “an important opportunity”.

“The year 2025 will be, with God’s help, the year of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” the far-right minister said, using the biblical name for the West Bank.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. Palestinians claim the territory as part of a future independent state, and have repeatedly warned that Israeli settlements there are an obstacle to peace.